


The Human Species

by ShadedSkies



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-02-17
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 50,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadedSkies/pseuds/ShadedSkies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humanity has finally gotten fed up with their fragile position in the world of Pokémon. Gathering the best of trainers, they have decided to subdue or dispose of every powerful Pokémon in existence.</p><p>The strong will expire as a large conflict between Pokémon and humans arises… But which side of the conflict will you end up on when you are neither Pokémon nor human…?</p><div class="center"></div>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lonesome Wanderer Lucario

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
A hateful blizzard rages over the northern region of Sinnoh. Braving the evil storm while dragging a limp body behind him, a Lucario stumbles through the snow. His body was thin and muscular, but his meager fur and shorts appeared to do little to protect him from the strong winds. Seeing nothing but whirling snow and walls of rock around him, he searched in hopes of finding a cave to take shelter in.

He was cold and weary, but eventually managed to locate a big gaping hole in the side of the mountain. He tackled through the opening violently enough to be ramming through a brick wall as he threw the body he was carrying into a corner of the dank cave. Immediately he closed his eyes, as they burned in pain after having been ravaged by the storm. Collapsing on the ground he lay there panting for a while, not knowing whether to recover his exhaustion or start flailing about in order to regain his body heat.

Deciding that both options sounded like too much of a hassle, he instead sat up and crossed his legs in an attempt to enter a meditative state. That way, he could at least find the inner peace he craved so badly for a while.

He had barely gotten started before he sensed the aura of someone appearing behind him, at the mouth of the cave. The heavy snow has already begun covering up the tracks leading to it, as well as the marks left from the fierce battle that had recently taken place outside. Someone must have seen him enter it…

”Pretty gutsy of you to come alone…” the Lucario suddenly said out loud with a dark tone in his voice as his eyes remained closed, ”Who sent you? Some human organization… Or are you a dog of the legendaries?” He clenched his fists a little as no one answered, and he sensed the foreign aura rapidly moving closer to him.

“No, I guess it doesn’t matter…” the Lucario continued with a sigh, “Since you’ve followed me all the way here, there can only be one course of action…!” Cracking his neck and opening his eyes, the Lucario stood up and quickly turned around to face the approaching threat.

“OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD” an extremely high-pitched voice echoed in his ears, as a smooth ball of blue hair flew at him. The Lucario narrowly dodged it with a sidestep and saw that it was a fairly short creature with some kind of beak sticking out of it.  
“I-It really is you!” the strange thing continued as her glee increased with every new pounce at him, “I’m your biggest fan! I love you! I’ve watched every episode over and over and o-”  
“Wait!” the Lucario exclaimed terrified while dodging her grasps and fighting hard not to counterattack, “Y-You’re not here to kill me!?”  
“Ki… I-I…” the short bird responded, mishearing him and beginning to blush a little, “… I’d LOVE to kiss you!”  
“Simmer down!” Lucario shouted as he made a small leap back to avoid the thing’s constant approach. As his vision grew less distorted, he saw that it looked like a blue baby penguin with a big head and… White nipples!?  
“I’ve never even seen you before, you crazy thing!” the Lucario yelled angrily as the Piplup before him finally ceased her attacks.  
“But… You’re ‘Lonesome Wanderer Lucario’, right?” she asked, looking at him confused with her beady eyes.  
“I…” the Lucario mumbled, remembering that he had referred to as ‘Lucario’ before and was indeed wandering alone, ”… Yeah, I guess you could call me that…”  
“I KNEW IT!” the Piplup squealed loudly before again jumping up to try to steal his lips.  
“Bastard!” Lucario yelled in disgust as he grabbed a hold of her head in midair, “You’ve got rabies or something!?” He had expected a strong reaction from this, but instead the Piplup was just holding her hands in front of her with a brown, rectangular object in them.

“Can I have your pawprint?” the Piplup asked sincerely with a big smile on her face.  
“W-What the hell…?” Lucario stammered as he searched the small penguin for some kind of storage space, “Where’d you get that from!?”  
“Home!” the Piplup giggled, “I’ve always dreamed of meeting you like this, alone in a cave somewhere, no one to interrupt the romantic mood…”  
“…” Lucario stood in silence, not really caring about anything this wild beast had to say, ”You wanted my… My… What did you want?”  
“Pawprint!” the Piplup exclaimed happily, reaching out even more with the brown object, “I want to show it to all my friends to prove that I really did meet you!”  
”Paw… Print? Oh, it’s…” Lucario mumbled, examining the small thing which now reminded him to a miniature vat of wet cement, “… Like an autograph?”  
”… A what?” the Piplup wondered, trying to cock her head to the side but instead moving her body diagonally since Lucario still had a tight hold of her.  
”Never mind…” Lucario sighed while letting go of the tiny creature, making her fall to the ground and landing on her butt, “I’ll give it to you, but then you’ve got to leave.”  
“Leave!?” the Piplup exclaimed instead of ‘Ow’ as she hit the ground, “But… All my life I’ve been waiting for you! I’m your biggest fan! You’re the best hero ever!”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about…” Lucario said exhausted, tired of all the nonsense.  
”Take…” the Piplup whispered as she remember all those practices she had in front of the mirror. She put on her best face as she gathered up all her courage and shouted, ”… Take me with you!”

”Not a chance” Lucario responded bluntly, ”I travel alone, and I don’t need a pet.”  
“A-A pet?” the Piplup stuttered surprised, “No, as a partner! I… I can fight! I’ve traveled before! We’ll-“  
“I said ‘not a chance’, not ‘maybe’!” Lucario interrupted harshly, the word ‘partner’ leaving a bad aftertaste in his mind, “I’m a ‘lone wanderer’, remember?”  
“Yes! But together, we can-“ the Piplup tried to continue, but was interrupted once again.  
“THIS is why I travel alone, if you’re wondering!” Lucario said with annoyance, “So that I don’t have to put up with all this... This… What’s that sound called that penguins make? Chirping?”  
“… Pegu-nins?” the Piplup tried to repeat with a confused stare.  
“I don’t have any fish, if that’s what you’re looking for!” Lucario said loudly before pointing directly behind him, “And don’t even think you’re getting a piece of this one!”

They both looked at the large Pokémon that Lucario had dragged into the cave. Another bird-like Pokémon, it was larger and had a fiery tone of colors to its feathers. While Lucario remained oblivious, the Piplup could easily tell that it was a Combusken.

“Oooooh!” the Piplup exclaimed with admiration, “Did you hit her with your Aura Sphere? Or maybe your Aura Storm!?”  
“… My what?” Lucario asked, before ignoring the thought, “Well… It definitively got familiar with my fists, if that’s what you’re referring to!”  
“Wow! You didn’t even have use your special attacks!?” the Piplup shouted happily as she bounced up and down, “That’s soooo cool!”  
“Cool?” Lucario said while making a short laugh to himself, “No, I just punched it in the face until it went down… Oh well, at least I won’t be going hungry tonight!”  
“Yeah! Hungry…” the Piplup continued bouncing before she realized what she had just said and became a bit startled, “… Uh, hungry?”  
”Not hungry enough to bite into this slab of disease, of course! I’ve got to cook it first!” Lucario said as he scanned the area for fitting material to ignite, “Listen, if you help me with starting the fire, I guess you can have half a leg or something.”

The awkward situation was broken as a pitiful groan was suddenly heard from the Combusken. Its senses were barely functional and its mind foggy beyond any recognition as it didn’t know where or what it was. Running completely on instincts, it struggled to move.

“Whoa, still breathing?” Lucario muttered surprised while approaching it, “I guess I’ll have to take care of that, first…”  
”WAIT! STOP!” the Piplup yelled while running ahead of him, ”What are you doing!?”  
“Well, I can’t eat it if it’s still alive!” Lucario responded as he moved even closer to the Combusken that had started flailing its right leg wildly, ”Now shut up, you’re ruining my appetite…”  
”Y-You can’t eat her!” the Piplup shouted in horror as the Combusken moaned frightfully, ”She’s a sentient being! An intelligent creature!”  
”Not intelligent enough to avoid fighting me…” Lucario muttered as his stomach growled loudly, “Besides, I haven’t had anything to eat but berries for five days. I’m starving for meat!”  
”No… No way…” the Piplup stammered as she fell back, gazing up on her fallen idol, ”Y-You’re really a cannibal!? Y-You’re kidding, right!?”  
”Pfft, cannibal…” Lucario scoffed to himself before suddenly realizing something that made is mouth drop, ”… Wait, what? You mean, Pokémon don’t usually… Rather, Pokémon can’t…” Something clicked in him at the sound of the word ‘Cannibal’, and he began to get worried that maybe there was a reason why this act was considered unnatural even between two different species of Pokémon…

”… Yeah, I was… I mean, of course I was joking around!” Lucario said slowly before picking up the pace, ”I just wanted to scare Big Bird here a little bit. Now, scram.”  
“Oh…” the Piplup whispered, somewhat relieved. She knew her hero would never try something like that for real!  
“Get with the scraming, already!” Lucario shouted, hoping the message would stick this time.  
“Come on!” the Piplup continued her earlier hassling, “Let me be your sidekick!”  
“No!” Lucario responded sharply and bluntly.  
“I promise I won’t get in your way!” the Piplup continued, not taking ‘no’ for an answer, “I’ll even hide myself if I have to! And I’ve got lots of items that’ll be useful-“  
“You know, I’m not a lone wanderer because I want to be!” Lucario interrupted, so very tired of this whole conversation, “Just that those that follow me have a bad tendency to end up dead!”  
“I…” the Piplup whispered as she closed her eyes before shouting in determination, “I’m not afraid of death!”

A few moments of silence passed between them, as Lucario stared at the little thing in front of him. He didn’t know whether to be impressed with it or angrier at it. Looking outside the cave for an escape, he noticed that the snow had stopped altogether.  
“What’s with this climate…?” Lucario mumbled as he looked back at his lost meal with a starving stare. He realized that he no longer had any reason to stay, and began heading for the exit.  
“Listen, come with me and you’ll find nothing but death” Lucario tried to explain as calmly as possible while walking, ”Give up on becoming my partner and go back to your home on the north po… I mean, south pole.”  
“I’ll follow you wherever you go!” the Piplup replied cheerfully.  
“Damn it! Do you ever stop!?” Lucario turned around and growled irritated, as his stomach did the same.  
“Oh wait… You’re hungry?” the Piplup asked, her face lighting up, “That’s perfect! I’ve got berries with me!” Before Lucario could blink the Piplup was holding several large berries in her hands, once again dazzling him as to where she had kept them stored until now.

“… Ugh” was all Lucario managed to say as he felt very disappointed, “… Really? Nothing else? I really hate berries…”  
“Huh? But that’s…” the Piplup said, looking over the brightly colored berries with a hint of hunger, “… I’ve never heard of a Pokémon that didn’t like berries!”  
”Oh, I’m not a Pokémon…” Lucario said lightly as he once again turned around and finally left the cave.

“I’m human.”


	2. Serene Chaser Suicune

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
“Hey! Wait up!” the Piplup shouted, her cries going unnoticed as Lucario had long since blocked her out completely, entering a state harmonic silence. With the mountain range far behind them and a bright sun far above them, they were currently walking through a large field of grass and small flowers. Lucario treaded carefully, worried that a seemingly harmless dandelion would turn out to be some kind of grass-type Pokémon lying in ambush.

What unnerved him even more was the fact that the grass beneath his feet was fairly dry. There been a mighty blizzard just a few hours ago, and looking back he was still able to see the cave they had rested in. Either the storm had been extremely local, or the sun had dried up the grass faster than what could be considered normal.

“Hey… You” Lucario finally said, making the Piplup raise her head in excitement, “Why isn’t there any snow here?”  
“Oh!” she exclaimed with a trace of confidence before completely trailing off, “That’s because… Um… Well…” Lucario rapidly wished he hadn’t left his happy bubble.  
“I have no idea!” she finally answered with a big smile.  
“Ugh…” Lucario groaned, amazed at how useless this penguin would be as a permanent traveling companion, “… How old are you, anyway?”  
“Four!” the Piplup quickly replied.  
“Figures…” Lucario sighed, having guessed it was a little older as a thought suddenly hit him, “… Is that in human years or penguin years?”  
“Pegu-nin…?” the Piplup asked, still not being able to pronounce the foreign word correctly. Actually, ever since meeting her idol for the first time there had been a lot of things that had gone quite far above her head, yet somehow gotten stuck in there. One question in her felt particularly pressing…

“Hey, hey! About that thing you said before…” she said with a lively voice as Lucario looked back at her for a moment, “Uh… What do you mean, you’re human?”  
“Well… I’m human” Lucario responded with a short laugh, “Heh… I mean, I’m in the body of a Pokémon, but I’m still human.”  
“Hmm…” the Piplup mumbled as she didn’t understand, “I’ve never heard of anything like that before!”  
“That makes two of us” Lucario hastily replied, holding his paws in front of him and looking down at what used to be his hands.  
“How did it happen?” the Piplup continued asking, simply glad that Lucario wasn’t ignoring her anymore.  
“Who knows?” Lucario said, getting tired of talking and regretting having given the Piplup any attention, “There I was, being human and all… And then I was some kind of blue wolf.”  
“Hmm…” the Piplup mumbled as she once again didn’t understand, “I don’t get it!”  
“Please stop talking…” Lucario muttered, making one last attempt to make some use out of his annoying stowaway, “Hey, none of these flowers are Pokémon, right?”  
“Hahaha! Of course not!” the Piplup laughed, before looking at his serious face and getting a concerned look on hers, “… You can’t tell?”  
“How can anyone?” Lucario sighed with a shrug, “There’re like a hundred different kinds, how the hell should I know what they all look like…?”  
“You know, even for a human you seem to know very little about Pokémon!” the Piplup said, as the Lucario jumped a little.  
“Uh… Yeah” he answered nervously, “I… Grew up in a village where there were no Pokémon. At all.”  
“No Pokémon!?” the Piplup said out loud, “A place like that really exists!?”  
“… I guess” Lucario said, before suddenly jumping even higher than before and immediately stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?” the Piplup asked, as Lucario looked behind them with a troubled face.  
“You know how I warned you about eight times that you’d die if you followed me around like this?” Lucario muttered menacingly while gritting his teeth, “… Well, now you get to find out why.” Looking back the way they had come, the Piplup saw a large figure forming at the horizon, rapidly increasing in size. Something was approaching them very quickly!  
“These two assholes again…” Lucario mumbled to himself, “I was hoping they’d given up by now…”  
“W-What’s that!?” the Piplup asked with a startled voice.  
“Heaps of trouble. Here’s a last minute tip: The big one manipulates water and can freeze it solid at any time” Lucario said loudly as he spread his legs to gain better footing, “… Survive this, and I’ll be more than proud to call you my partner.”  
“R-Really!?” the Piplup yelled in excitement, “You really mean that!?”  
“Pfft, don’t get any ideas…” Lucario said bitterly as the figure got nearer, “Dodge everything, and if you against all odds manage to find an opening… RUN LIKE HELL!”

The large creature hastily closed in on them with giant leaps across the grassy field. The Piplup ran to the side as the beast stopped itself about twenty feet away from where Lucario was standing. The new arrival appeared to be a teal lion with a purple mane flowing from its head, and two tails that curved around and looked like white bandages floating by its sides. In the miniature sea of purple fur sat a trainer, riding on its back. The trainer was an adult with spiky white hair, a green bandana and a look of insanity on his face that one rarely finds outside a mental hospital.

“Eya ha ha! I told you fleeing was useless!” the white-haired trainer cackled madly, “You’ll never escape me as long as I have Suicune!”  
“You’re nothing but an ugly boil attached to the back of a pansy horse!” Lucario shouted, fully aware that the trainer couldn’t understand anything he said. He did see Suicune twitch a little at his remark, though.  
“I am Champion Brendan!” the trainer continued gleefully, “Remember the name of your master as you become part of my collection!”  
“The only thing you’ll be collecting once I’m done with you is your teeth!” Lucario yelled, letting his rage get the better of him as he dashed towards the intimidating duo. The last time he had tried to keep his distance, which turned out to be a big mistake… And he simply could not wait to knock the boastful bastard off his high horse.

“Diamond Dust, now!” Brendan laughed as Suicune crouched down a bit.  
“This time, you’re mine!” Lucario screamed as he jumped towards the shining creature, getting ready to deliver a strong kick to its head. Suicune suddenly hopped back, as a puddle below where it had previously stood exploded into a mass of droplets.  
“Solidify!” Brendan shouted as all the tiny bodies of water froze into tiny shrapnel of ice. Still in midair, Lucario did as best he could to defend himself from the explosion. Covering himself, he didn’t notice that Suicune came running at him, ramming him hard and sending him flying back.  
“Impale!” Brendan yelled, as Suicune spat out of a long trail of water towards Lucario. Predicting the pattern of the attack, he punched the stream of water right before it hit him, knocking away the icicle spear that quickly formed from it.

“Gah!” Lucario coughed as a crashed to the ground, quickly flipping himself upright to get ready for another attack.  
“Piercing Rain!” Brendan yelled, making Suicune shoot a large wave of water diagonally into the air towards Lucario. As the wave broke off into smaller pieces at the top, they froze and became sharp javelins instead. Lucario saw them falling down from the sky, and in a daring move decided to attack Suicune once again.  
“You left yourself open!” Lucario shouted as the ice crashed down behind him and he ran up to Suicune, keeping himself on the ground this time. When he was hardly three feet away from it, Suicune spat out a beam of water at his head, which he just barely managed to dodge. Taking his first swing at Suicune, it formed a passage of ice on the ground and slid on it to swiftly glide away from him. Having his stubbornness fueled by rage, Lucario ignored this and kept chasing after the legendary dog. This proved to be a mistake however, as the slippery ground made him lose his footing and a large block of ice collided with him, pushing him back through the air.  
“Splitting Crush!” Brendan yelled as Suicune shot out yet another boulder of ice, hitting the previous one and making it break in half, sending powerful shockwaves into Lucario and stunning him as he hit the ground.

The Piplup was beyond amazed at this display. It was exactly like the show she had grown to love so much, only far more realistic. Even though Lucario’s adversary seemed to have the upper hand this time, she knew that he would soon get serious and trash the large, blue Pokémon and his strange rider.  
“You can do it!” she cheered with admiration as Lucario struggled to get up, “I believe in you!”  
“Dumbass, keep quiet!” Lucario responded angrily when Brendan quickly turned his head towards the previously unnoticed Pokémon.  
“Oh, hey! Will you look at this?” Brendan said to himself as a broad smile formed on his face, “That’s a… A Piplup!” The Piplup realized her mistake and made an audible gulp.  
“That’s a rare one! Oooh, I always wanted one of you…” he continued in a dreamy voice, “That punk Lucas started with one of you, I think… I’m kind of jealous, because I started with a Torchic, myself… Only to find out Hoenn was nothing but water everywhere… Man, water types are the only way to go, really…” Lucario and the Piplup stared at the strange person as he continued his monologue while scratching his chin frenetically as if it had a rash or something.

“Heh, Lucario AND a Piplup! Must be my lucky day!” Brendan cackled as he suddenly pulled a purple Pokeball from his belt, “You’re mine!” The Piplup stumbled back in horror at the sight of the fearsome machine, and felt terrified at the thought of being captured by this maniacal trainer. But in the corner in her eye, she saw her hero not far away.  
“T-Try anything and y-you’ll be sorry!” she stammered as her courage was regained, “L-Lucario, s-show them what happens when someone messes with you!” Lucario looked at her, and then quickly looked back at Brendan.  
“Brace yourself!” Brendan yelled as Suicune suddenly rushed towards the Piplup, who fell on her backside in fear.  
“H-Help me, Lucario!” she cried as she covered her eyes, shaking frightfully.

The Suicune had barely taken a step towards the scared Piplup before Lucario focused all his power into his legs and started running… In the opposite direction. As he fled, he heard Brendan laughing madly as the Piplup screamed desperately behind him.  
“Like I’d risk my life for a stinkin’ animal…” Lucario mumbled to himself, still feeling a twinge of guilt in his heart. The guilt didn’t last long as it was replaced by joy when he remembered that he would no longer have to put up with her incessant chattering.

Even so, he knew that running away would only be a temporary solution, and that he would have to face the fearsome duo again soon. He was no stranger to battle, but had no idea on how he would even go about fighting a giant dog that keeps shooting ice and water at him. The dog had turned out to be surprisingly nimble, and the guy riding it never seemed to run out of new tricks and ways of attacking him. He realized that unless he comes up with a good plan very fast, he would eventually run out of luck and finally be captured… Or killed.  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


	3. Eccentric Champion Brendan

Having fled the scene and with no trace of anyone following him, Lucario finally slowed down to a jog so that he wouldn’t burn through all his stamina at once. Hardly ten minutes had passed since his encounter with Suicune before he suddenly was hit in the face by the first snowflake of the evening.  
“No bloody way…” Lucario groaned in disbelief, wondering how any sort of ecosystem could function with such a rapidly changing weather. It started snowing harder and harder, making it go from a minor annoyance in the form of a fine powder covering the ground to a thick sludge hindering his every step. He trudged through the white sea, the cold creeping between his unprotected toes and splashing up his legs. In his misery he noticed another mountain range in the distance in front of him. His hope was regained as he thought about reaching it where he could hide himself.

It was then that Lucario once again sensed the aura of Suicune, not very far away. Lucario did not have time to ponder on how it could track him so accurately, as he noticed that it was moving a lot faster than he was. Seems it wasn’t hindered by the snow even the slightest.

“Damn it…” Lucario cursed to himself, knowing that he would not be able to outrun it anymore, and he was definitively not ready to fight it. Realizing that he would be forced to anyway, he stopped running so that he could catch his breath before the encounter. Desperately trying to come up with a battle plan, the best thing he could think of was digging a pit and covering it with snow as a clever trap… But even he knew that would not work.  
“My final battle…” Lucario chortled to himself, stretching his arms and legs, “Yeah, right… Who needs a plan? I’ll just beat the shit out of ‘em…” He remembered that he had been in unfavorable situations many times before and come out standing with nothing but his guts and limitless battle spirit to thank for it.

Suicune came running very fast, moving on top of the bed of snow and not leaving a single footprint behind it. Even as it instantly stopped itself the snow around it lay still, completely unaffected by its velocity.

“Impressive…” Lucario couldn’t help but whisper as an annoying cackle once more filled his ears. Brendan was laughing heartily as he scanned the area around them.  
“What? You don’t have any more Piplup for me?” he asked jokingly while looking at Lucario, who did not even know that the penguin from earlier had been a Piplup.  
“One’s plenty, I guess… Wouldn’t it be delightful if I had the two of you fight each other right now?” Brendan smiled as he held the purple Pokeball from earlier into the air, “… But I had to soften it up a little, so I don’t think it’s ready to fight quite yet…”  
“Hey! Blue one!” Lucario shouted as Brendan was busy with another one of his monologues, “I know that guy on top of you can’t understand me, but I think you can!” Suicune looked at him, remaining silent.  
“Why are you chasing me? Why are you listening to his orders!?” Lucario continued, in a last ditch effort of disrupting the duo’s teamwork. However, Suicune remained as quiet as ever, understanding what Lucario had just said but obviously not caring.

“Have it your way, then…” Lucario continued, knocking his fists together as he braced himself for the long, difficult fight ahead of him.  
“Now, Suicune!” Brendan shouted as he pointed down to the ground, “Chilling Grip!” Lucario instinctively dodged to the side, only to notice that something held on to his feet. This made him lose his balance, but as something had a very tight grip on his feet he somehow remained standing. He couldn’t move his feet even the slightest!  
“Your best chance of winning was fighting against us in the sun…” Brendan said in a disappointed way as Lucario stared down at his legs with a confused look on his face, “Not even Suicune can directly freeze the water covering you, because of your body heat…” His feet were covered in snow, so Lucario could not see what had happened, but started getting a bad feeling.  
“With all this snow around, that’s no longer a problem!” Brendan continued as he started sounding a bit more cheerful, “Your body melts the snow, and Suicune here freezes the water! While resisting us was a foolish idea right from the start, fighting us in the snow is downright retarded!”

“Shit!” Lucario exclaimed as he bended over to smash the ice covering his feet. It was tough, but cracked after a few blows from both his fists.  
“Hah!” Lucario chortled successfully, before he ran towards Suicune and suddenly tripped as something grabbed a hold of his right foot.  
“EYA HA HA HA! The snow is our jurisdiction!” Brendan cackled madly as Lucario lay face down in the snow, “And it’s all around you! So our jurisdiction is also all around you! Let me show you what I mean… Suicune, use Chilling Makeup!” Lucario tried to scream out in horror as he felt the snow harden around his face, creating a gripping mask of ice. Not being able to breathe or say anything, he braced himself as he smashed his face down on the ground, shattering the mask.  
“No… No way…” he mumbled weakly as he rubbed his sore head, “Damn, that’s unfair…”  
“Can you fight us without ever touching the snow?” Brendan asked, almost immediately answering his own question, “No. No you can’t. So, YOU LOOOOOSE!”

Lucario growled angrily as he tried to free himself without using his hands. He realized that he was barely a match for this thing in a normal environment; if he could not even touch the ground without getting caught he truly had no chance of winning. This was it. After all he’s been through; he wouldn’t even get to go down fighting in a blaze of glory… Even so, he remained steadfast and stared viciously at the insane trainer.

“Or, rather…” Brendan suddenly said in an unusually calm voice as Suicune moved closer to Lucario, “All is not yet lost…”  
“You’ve got that right…” Lucario replied hastily, “It’s not over ‘til it’s over!”  
“See, my orders are to either kill you, or catch you!” Brendan snickered in a sugar coated voice, almost giggling with the last few words, “That way, you can be my Pokémon! You teach me and I’ll teach you as we travel across the land!”  
“Shut up!” Lucario shouted back, realizing that is he was able to reach the madman in front of him, he would never stop punching him.  
“… But honestly?” Brendan sighed out loud as he looked up into the sky, “I don’t think I can control a wilder like you… And I have a new method of execution that I have just been DYING to try out… So, let’s do it like this - Either you bow in submission, and you will serve as my Pokémon and my Pokémon only… Or you die, right here.”

Normally Lucario would at least consider his options, but somewhere between being chased down like a dog, being treated like a weak fool and being forced to listen to yet another one of Brendan’s monologues he had lost all sense of reason.

“FUCK YOU!“ Lucario bellowed defiantly, not lowering his eyes even for a second.  
“Hmpf…” Brendan muttered disappointedly as the Lucario stood tall, “Did you mishear me? I said ‘bow’, not ‘bark’…”  
“You and that azure cocksucker can rot in hell!” Lucario continued, unable to comprehend the fact that his death was at hand, “I’ll be there waiting for you, and I’ll kick your ass every day!”  
“I hope you don’t mind that I take that as a ‘no’” Brendan said, not understanding a single thing Lucario had just said, “Just so you know, this suits me just fine!” He patted Suicne’s head, making it jump back to create some distance between them and Lucario.

“Ice Totem!” Brendan yelled as Suicune shot water at Lucario’s feet, causing a thick pillar of ice to protrude under him and push him upwards. Lucario struggled to get free as he rose higher and higher into the sky.  
“Ice Crescent!” Brendan shouted, causing the Ice Totem to stop rising in height and instead form a half moon on the top, covering Lucario’s sides.  
“Once more!” Brendan kept shouting, another crescent forming to cover Lucario’s front and back. Surrounded by bended ice in every direction, he had a strong feeling that he was already screwed. He stopped trying to free himself and instead closed his eyes, preparing himself for the worst.  
“DO IT!” Brendan bellowed, “Icicle Maiden Bloody Fountain Piercing Stab of Death!”

Silence. Lucario opened his eyes slowly and looked around him, as if time itself had stopped. Had the attack already passed, or…  
“… Deltoid” Brendan suddenly whispered with a big smile on his face. Immediately a sharp spike formed in the crescent to his right and cut into Lucario’s right shoulder, making him yell out in pain.  
“… Trapezius” Brendan continued, another spike appearing as Lucario heard a crashing sound beneath him. Suddenly, needles shot out from everywhere to pierce him, but as the pillar he was standing on crumbled he fell down to the ground instead.  
“NOOOOOOOO!” Brendan howled in both anger and anguish, “Who dares!?”

A strange figure in a brown cloak was standing in the snow between Suicune and Lucario. The cloak was covering its entire body from head to toe, and Lucario could not even tell if it was human or not. As the cloak tugged in the wind, he saw that it at the very least had a humanoid form. The only thing that could be seen apart from the cloak were several blades sticking out from where its arms appeared to be, slightly frosted from all the snow.

“Are you alright?” a surprisingly feminine voice sounded as the creature turned around, Lucario seeing nothing but darkness below the hood.  
“Not really, but I’ll take any help I can get!” Lucario responded, tightly clutching his right shoulder as warm blood poured down his arm.  
“The legendary Suicune, in my own backyard…” the mysterious figure spoke loudly as it seemed to finally notice Brendan, “… With a human rider, getting ready to execute someone? What is going on here?”  
“You…!” Brendan growled angrily, grabbing a tight hold of Suicune’s mane, “You’ll pay for ruining my triumphant moment!”  
“Huh? No!” the cloaked being burst out in shock, “I just want to know what’s happening!”  
“… Apparently, you’re gonna pay for ruining his triumphant moment…” Lucario said sarcastically as the open wound nipped in the cold, “Thanks for that, by the way.”  
“No, I just…” the feminine creature said, before sighing and raising her voice, “Hey! Suicune! I mean you no harm! I just want to know-”  
“Chilling Grip!” Brendan interrupted, as Lucario gasped and the new arrival stopped herself. They all stood quiet for a few moments before Suicune gave off a strange whine that was unintelligible to both human and Pokémon.  
“Oh?” Brendan exclaimed, leaning forward and staring at the creature in the cloak, “Quite interesting…” Lucario looked at her too, wondering what all the fuzz was about. He tried to see if her feet had been frozen, but couldn’t see anything since the cloak reached all the way down to the snow. He did notice that there were no footprints of her anywhere…

“Quite interesting, indeed!” Brendan finally burst out, “Fine, I’ve had it with being the nice guy here! Time to erase you! If you survive this maybe I’ll catch you, if not then it’s still a job well done! Yeah, let’s do this the old fashioned way! Blizzard!” Suicune leaned its head back for a moment before spitting out a vertical twister at the two of them.  
“Look out!” Lucario shouted as he threw himself to the side, landing in the freezing snow. A loud cracking noise was heard behind him as he looked back and saw a massive formation of ice where he had just been standing.  
“Yes! Perfect!” Brendan howled as Suicune ran up to the large formation, “Now, you die! Tidal Wave!” The huge chunk of ice began to soften as Suicune twisted itself in a whipping motion, hitting it and sending the whole mountain up into the air.  
“Surf! Ride it, baby!” Brendan laughed, making Suicune jump up into the newly formed mass of water, turning it into two giant waves splitting off in two directions, aimed at Lucario and the cloaked being.  
“Oh, shit!” Lucario exclaimed as the massive wave loomed over him. It was so large that he knew he would be crushed like a bug if hit by it. Sadly, he also realized that he had no chance of dodging it. Again his only plan amounting to digging a hole to somehow escape, he defended himself and awaited the mighty tsunami.

But instead of washing him away like a sick plankton, the tsunami turned into ice. Lucario was certain that this was just another stage of Suicune’s viscous attack, but changed his mind when he heard Brendan cursing loudly on top of the frozen waves.  
“Stop that!” he yelled while flailing his arms around, “I’m warning you!” Lucario finally saw what had happened - A strange white cloud was coming out of the creature in the cloak, presumably extremely cold wind freezing the waves in midair. Lucario felt relieved, but remembered Suicune’s ability to easily make it all water again. A nasty thought hit him as he decided to run around the waves, over to the cloaked creature.  
“Alright, you fucking asked for it!” Brendan howled madly as he reached down his belt and pulled out two Pokeballs. Throwing them into the air, they opened up and shot out two beams of red light to his sides, creating very intimidating creatures on top of the wave.

Meanwhile, the being in the cloak was busy exhaling freezing air as she stared at the rapidly approaching Lucario, not sure what to think. She knew that if she stopped blowing wind the waves would unfreeze and they would both be dead, and had no choice but to stand her ground and continue.  
“Keep at it!” Lucario yelled as he ran around her to avoid getting hit by the blizzard and then grabbed a hold of her waist, almost making her choke on her own ice. Then, he started running as fast as he could in the opposite direction, as the waves were still being kept in check.  
“I figured you couldn’t move while doing that” Lucario said while running and holding her behind him, “So, I’ll be your legs!”  
“Idiot! Let go!” the thing in the cloak yelled as the giant blocks of ice slowly lost their consistency, “I’m too far away now, I can’t keep them frozen!”  
“You…” Lucario stammered before hearing a loud crashing noise behind him, “… You what?”  
“Ahh! Here it comes!” the cloaked being screamed, “Run like you mean it!” A deep sloshing sound raged behind them as the water flowed in their direction. While not a lethal threat anymore, Lucario knew all too well what would happen if his feet were covered in water… Suddenly he began wondering why the Suicune hadn’t just locked him into the snow again.

“Alright, alright, you can stop…” the cloaked being said in an annoyed tone as Lucario stopped and instantly dropped her. He looked back and saw that the waves were gone, and that some of his blood had smudged itself on her cloak.  
“Listen, this thing has been chasing me for days, and I have no idea why…” Lucario said with exhaustion in his voice, “I can’t move around at all in this snow… Can you beat it on your own?”  
“… That’s a legendary, you know” she replied depressingly, “Honestly? I don’t think we stand a chance.”  
“Damn…” Lucario muttered, “… I’m sorry I got you into this.” The being in the cloak wanted to respond, but was interrupted as Suicune came running at them, carrying a furious trainer on its back.

“Assholes!” Brendan roared in rage, “You just made me knock out two of my favorite Pokémon!” Lucario stifled a laugh, imagining the two intimidating creatures from earlier almost drowning in the tidal wave.  
“I want to take my time torturing both of you! Don’t you DARE self-destruct on me!” Brendan cackled madly. At the sound of this, the creature in the brown cloak seemed to enter her own world for a moment as she lowered her head.  
“I see…” she whispered to herself before looking over at Lucario, “That’s it. I’m out of here. Do you need a rescue?”  
“Pfft! Me? Rescue!?” Lucario scoffed, as every fiber of his being fought against him as he felt like hurling at what he was about to say.  
“… Yes” he whimpered shamefully, feeling like a little girl.

“Alright, grab on!” she shouted, as she suddenly dashed towards Lucario who threw his hands up in surprise. The next thing he knew, he was being spun around in a flurry of snow. Disoriented and dazzled, he felt something in front of him, and grabbed on to it as instructed. It was soft, but very cold and gave him an odd sensation. The moment his arms found their target, he felt himself being pulled forward by a strange force. As his eyes got used to the whirl of snow around him he looked down and expected something really cool to be happening, such as him riding on the wind or something. He was very disappointed when and saw that the cloaked creature was just carrying him on her back and running away.

“You’re lighter than you look!” she snickered, moving gracefully on top of the snow.  
“W-What’s going on!?” Lucario stammered as a path of blood from his wounded shoulder trickled behind them.  
“I’m using my ultimate attack, the Stormy Wind of a Thousand Breezes!” she responded, trying to sound serious.  
“R-Really!?” Lucario asked in a rather childish manner.  
“No, we’re running away like little bitches” the creature in the cloak laughed, “But it sure beats dying, doesn’t it?”

Lucario held on to her in shameful silence. He noticed that the strange sensation came from the cloak he was holding on to, which appeared to be made out of a different material than leather. However, the cold he felt actually seemed to be emanating from underneath it… He was now rather curious as to what was hiding underneath the cloak.

“Like, thanks and all…” Lucario mumbled in his best attempt to sound grateful, “… But what’s your name?”  
“Me?” the being under the cloak asked before giving off a short laugh, “Call me Zerobi!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I refuse.”
> 
> “What?”
> 
> “I will not do it. Find someone else.”
> 
> “… You’d abandon humanity in its time of need!?”
> 
> “Hmpf… Don’t bother. I know the situation. Your kind will not be satisfied until the corpse of every strong Pokémon lay strewn across the globe.”
> 
> “You could always just catch them all, of course… A term you should be more than familiar with…”
> 
> “…”
> 
> “See, after the cataclysm of Deoxys, people have been asking themselves… ‘Where was Master Red?’ ‘Where was the eternal champion?’ ‘Where was the one trainer that we could always count on to protect us?’”
> 
> “… I am… Too old. I can no longer battle like I used to. You must put your hopes in the new generation…”
> 
> “You know that no trainer alive matches your expertise! The world is facing a crisis like never before!”
> 
> “…”
> 
> “Please! I am begging you… No, all life on this planet is begging you… Only you can prevent this catastrophe!”
> 
> “… What would you have me do? Chase down Mewtwo again?”
> 
> “No, not a legendary… Only one specific target that you have to el- I mean, subdue.”
> 
> “… Is that so? What kind of Pokémon is it?”
> 
> “... A Lucario...”


	4. Remorseful Vampire Zerobi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2572/murial4.png

“Welcome to my home!” Zerobi said triumphantly as she and Lucario entered a fairly small room. She had carried him all the way to the mountains he had seen in the distance earlier, where he dismounted her and promptly gave up on any plans to act macho. She had then led him into a cave and where they went through a very long and complex system of paths within, making the room they had just come across almost impossibly difficult to find. Looking over the room, Lucario could hardly see anything because there was only a very small source of light. With what little he could see, he was able to make out a bed in the corner and what appeared to be magazines thrown all over the place.

“Hehe…” Lucario snickered sarcastically, “Must be hard keeping the place clean with the constant stream of visitors you’re getting.”  
“It’s a cave, there’s really not much you can do about it…” Zerobi sighed as she at long last shed the cloak she was wearing. Lucario stared eagerly, having been curious about the creature that lay hidden underneath it ever since he first saw her.

Lucario had never seen anything like it before - She was standing on two legs and had two arms, but the similarities to a human being ended there. Very fine black fur covered her entire body, so thin it could easily be mistaken for skin. Her figure was both slender and elegant, but Lucario didn’t even notice that as he was busy staring at a set of strange red feathers sticking out of her head, neck and tail. She also seemed to be holding on to a couple of very sharp-looking blades with her hands, but at closer inspection Lucario noticed that they actually WERE her hands!  
“Ah… Huh?” Lucario couldn’t help but say as he tried to take it all in, “What the… Are those…!?”  
“… I’m not that weird!” Zerobi yelled in embarrassment as Lucario gasped, just having noticed a yellow crystal between her eyes.  
“Whoa!” he exclaimed while pointing at it, “Right between the eyes, what a scary place to get an implant!”  
“I-Implant!?” Zerobi stammered and was taken aback by his confusion, “I got this when I evolved into a Weavile! It grew out of me!”  
“… Yikes, it’s organic!?” Lucario yelled in disbelief as he reached out to touch it, “No way!”  
“Whoa, whoa! Don’t touch me!” Zerobi shouted as she took a step back from the approaching paw, noticing some dried up blood on it. Lucario halted himself and let his sight slowly shift down the body of the Pokémon in front of him. Taking in her form and noticing the lack of certain features, his eyes suddenly saw something that made them widen in shock.  
“Y-You’re a girl!?” Lucario gasped while visibly flinching.  
“Just where the heck are you looking!?” Zerobi shouted as she was getting really mad at him, “You couldn’t tell from my voice!?”  
“Well…” Lucario mumbled to himself, not having thought about it sooner since simply getting used to hearing animals talk had been strange enough.  
“You oaf! You ungrateful jerk!” Zerobi kept going, slowly remembering why she rarely had guests over in the first place, “Is this how you treat your savior!?”  
“Sorry! Sorry!” Lucario apologized, deciding to keep his curiosities to himself before they get him into more trouble.  
“Hmpf…” Zerobi exclaimed before tossing her cloak behind her, making it land gracefully on the bed.

“You know, I’m appreciative and all, but…” Lucario said in an embarrassed way as he looked her in the eyes, “… Why did you save me?”  
“H-Huh?” Zerobi stuttered as she was taken off guard and quickly came up with a lie, “… Surely you don’t need a reason to save someone’s life?”  
“Hmm?” Lucario said, so surprised by her answer that he bought it without a second thought, “You’re surprisingly reasonable for a Pokémon.”  
“… What do you mean?” Zerobi asked before mentally telling herself not to press her own lie.  
“Nothing…” Lucario sighed in disappointment, for some reason thinking back to the little penguin that he had left behind, “I was just hoping that you’d be a bit more… Human.”  
“Human…?” Zerobi mumbled, still mad from earlier, “Alright then, let’s go back, you seemed to be getting along just fine with that trainer…”  
“No, I don’t mean it like that!” Lucario replied quickly, not thinking of what to say next, “I just… Well…” Gathering his thoughts, he remembered that so far the only human he had encountered had been a sadistic maniac, while Zerobi and that penguin had actually been helpful and nice. Suddenly, he realized that in his desperation he had not only fled like a coward three times in a row, but abandoned someone to a fate neither animal nor man deserves and still had to get himself rescued to even survive.

In the heat of the chase and battle that followed he had not really thought about it. Now, the remembrance hit him like a stack of bricks as shame welled up in his stomach and he began to feel sick, his head spinning as if he was going to faint. He kept himself from collapsing on the ground in defeat, but it was more difficult than he had imagined it to be as he for the first time in his life truly felt like a pathetic loser.  
“darn it… What have I been playing at…!?” he whispered as he slapped himself across the face. He barely felt it, the wound on his right shoulder already far more painful, but somehow it made him feel a bit better. Like he still had a chance to turn things around if he just put some effort into it.

“Um… You need any help with that?” Zerobi asked awkwardly, not having noticed his inner fight as she had been too busy staring hungrily at the blood seeping out of the wound the icy spike had left on him.  
“With what?” he snapped back while looking at her sharp claws, “Making it wider?”  
“… Smart” Zerobi mumbled, trying her best to quench her thirst. Five long years had passed since she was even in the same room as blood, and she had promised herself to resist any urge that might pop up.  
“Listen, you should probably know something about me…” Zerobi suddenly said while looking down at her own body in disgust, “Don’t ever let any blood get on me. I can assure you that bad things will happen.”  
“Like, the blood types will mix?” Lucario responded, for once trying to jump to his own conclusions instead of being oblivious to everything, “Yeah, that’d be bad.”  
“Huh?” Zerobi exclaimed, realizing that Lucario had just somehow lied to himself in her place, “No… I mean…”  
“Don’t worry!” Lucario told her with a new resolve, “From now on, thing will be different! I’ll fight seriously this time around!”

“… By the way…” Zerobi muttered while slowly falling back on the bed, “Why was a weakling like you being chased by a legendary like Suicune?”  
“W-Weakling!?” Lucario gasped, scoffed and spluttered at the same time, “Man, you’re SO wrong! I’ll have you know I’ve been fighting and training all my life!”  
“Sure didn’t seem like it, out there…” Zerobi said, leaning back and enjoying the soft feeling against her back, “Why didn’t you use some of those fancy fighting-type moves?” Lucario chuckled sarcastically at this, thinking back to how hard it was for him to simply walk with his new body at first.  
“How the heck am I supposed to suplex a six foot tall canine!?” he shouted, making Zerobi sit up in surprise, ”I mean, apart from punching or kicking it, there’s really not much else I can do.”  
“Wow, are you really that inexperienced?” Zerobi asked, thinking back to what she had read about fighting-types back in school, “What about the Aura Sphere, or the Aura Stor-“  
“darn it, why does everyone keep saying ‘Aura’!?” Lucario interrupted her while throwing his arms up into the air, remembering the Piplup from earlier. The wound on his shoulder hurt a bit, but not as much as before.  
“Well… You ARE an Aura Pokémon, right?” Zerobi asked even though she already knew the answer.  
“Am I?” Lucario responded.  
“… You’re kidding me, right?” Zerobi said, staring at the wolf-like creature in front of her in disbelief. Lucario suddenly stopped himself. For some reason, telling Zerobi that he was actually human did not seem like such a good idea. So far he had told everyone he had met about it, and everyone seemed so surprised by it… It must be as unnatural as he first feared. Earlier he did not care what animals thought of him, but Zerobi was different. She was… Cool. She also seemed to have some kind of grudge against humans, what if she started hating him all of a sudden? For the time being, he decided to dodge the subject.

“The last time I checked, I was a blue wolf on two legs” Lucario said confidently, “What do you expect me to be able to do, anyway?”  
“Like, shoot blue spheres of energy and stuff…” Zerobi replied as her chest and back started itching a lot, “… I’ve had bad personal experiences with it, myself…”  
“Blue spheres…” Lucario snickered to himself, but then realized that in a world of monsters and magic, he might not be all that different. Thinking back to the Combusken he fought, right before knocking it out it had produced some sort of strange light that melted the snow and burned through the ground.  
“Oh, cool!” he suddenly exclaimed, “You mean I’m able to do all sorts of awesome stuff, too?”  
“You would be less of a dead weight in battle, that’s for sure…” Zerobi mumbled, lying donw on the bed again. She was really quite tired from running so much.  
“Wait…” Lucario said and quickly looked over himself, “How? How do I do it?”  
“How should I know?” Zerobi shrugged, which felt weird as she was in a vertical position, “I’m an Ice and Dark-type Pokémon. Try finding the aura first, and then shoot it out of your hands.”  
“Find the aura…” Lucario said as he crossed his arms and thought hard, “… Ha! I get it!”  
“… Y-You do?” Zerobi stammered, surprised that her aimless advice had any effect.  
“Yeah! That thing that makes me sense creatures around me…” Lucario exclaimed happily and tried finding the strange sensation that had been lingering in him ever since he switched bodies, “Hmm… I must have that in me, too… Now, to focus it…”

Staring intently at his right arm, Lucario had no idea on how to go about it and simply tried to push every inch of his being into his hand. This proved to be as a mistake, as his hand suddenly exploded in a ball of blue flames, making both Lucario and Zerobi gasp.  
“GRAAAAAAAHHHH!” Lucario screamed, his right hand feeling like it had been blown off and set on fire at the same time. Falling to his side, he went from convulsing in pain to wiggling pathetically on the ground as the blue flames slowly died off by themselves. Zerobi sat up quickly and ran up to him to see what was going on. The flames had dissipated by the time she made it there, as Lucario was clutching his badly burned left hand and groaning.

“Hah…” Lucario coughed, his voice hoarse from screaming so loudly. Turning around so that he was on his back, he held his left arm up into the air. Zerobi saw that his left hand still had all its fur on it, but the involuntary twitching told her it was actually very damaged.  
“Hahaha! HAHAHA!” Lucario laughed as he was lying down, “I did it! HAH! TAKE THAT!”  
“That wasn’t exactly a sphere” Zerobi said with an impressed tone in her voice, “But it sure looked like aura!”  
“Heh! I’ll get it right this time!” Lucario said as he quickly leaped up on his feet and held out his left arm, “Or should I say, left!” Zerobi took a step back to see what would happen, worried that the whole Pokémon might explode into a sea of blue flames this time. Instead, Lucario was just standing completely still while gritting his teeth.  
“Huh?” he said after a while, “Why’s nothing happening…?”  
“You’re gonna strain your arm if you-“ Zerobi started, but was interrupted as a torrent of blue flames shot out of Lucario’s left elbow.  
“AAARRGHHHH!” he bellowed as he once again fell down, this time stopping his descent on his knees. His elbow was burning brightly as he tried covering it with his right hand, but only succeeding in burning it even further. This time, Zerobi was prepared and started freezing his left elbow in hopes of dousing the fire.  
“AAAAHHHHH STOOOOOP!” Lucario wailed as his arm became frozen, but the blue flames still burned within the ice, “GRAAAHH MAKE IT STOP darn IT!”  
“I… I don’t know how!” Zerobi stuttered helplessly as the ice melted and the flames once again died off. Lucario collapsed forward as she thought about saving him, but remembered the dangerous blood on his shoulder and let him land on his face instead.

“C-Cruse you…!” Lucario growled accusingly as he entered a coughing fit.  
“Hey, it’s not my fault!” Zerobi said, getting a bit worried as Lucario was struggling with getting up this time.  
“Not you…” he mumbled, not being able to decide which wound to clutch anymore, “darn… I’m never doing that again…”  
“Huh?” Zerobi exclaimed surprised, “Wait, what happened with your determination?”  
“You have NO idea how much that hurt” Lucario said as he finally rose to his feet and shook his head violently, “… It’s like my insides were set on corrosive fire.”  
“That bad?” Zerobi asked, not sure if he was being serious or not, “That’d make it a pretty good weapon should you learn how to use it.”  
“Yeah… I think I’m gonna lie down for a while” Lucario said weakly as he wobbled towards the bed as a strange sensation suddenly hit him, “… By the way, are you expecting any visitors?”  
“No” Zerobi replied as she thought about where she would sleep if the bed was occupied, “You’re the first one in five years. Why?”  
“Just that I can sense the aura of something right outside the cave…” Lucario kept going with exhaustion in his voice, “Something pretty big…”  
“Hah! Don’t worry!” Zerobi laughed while crossing her arms, “You know what a labyrinth this place is! They’ll never find it, I’ve been hiding here for-“

Zerobi was interrupted as the two of them heard a loud crash somewhere above them. They both stared up into the ceiling as another crash was heard.  
“... It’s coming right for us!” Lucario suddenly yelled, “It’s punching through the walls!”  
“What!?” Zerobi shouted, as the room they were in exploded in a cloud of dust as something dropped down from above, smashing so hard against the ground that they could feel it shake. Lucario tried hard to stay on his feet and wiped some of the filth off his eyes as the cloud settled, revealing a large beast carrying a trainer on its back between himself and Zerobi. The airborne grime dissipated from the top, and made it so that the first thing they both noticed was a certain color emanating from the trainer on top…

Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Dad!”
> 
> “S-Son... Run...”
> 
> “No! I won't leave you behind, dad!”
> 
> “No... You need to-”
> 
> “I-I'm not scared... I'll stand my ground, and-”
> 
> “Listen... To me... For a second...”
> 
> “D-Dad?”
> 
> “... Get Pikablu...”
> 
> “H-He's not here, dad...”
> 
> “Run... And get Pikablu...”
> 
> “But... but what about you!?”
> 
> “I'll live. You... Know... I will...”
> 
> “D-Dad...! Alright, j-just... W-Wait here a moment, and I'll... I'll get Pikablu and Mom and Sis and Celebi and the Gallade and we'll save you!”
> 
> “... Please... Not... That last one...”
> 
> “... Oh no! Here they come again!”
> 
> “Son... Know that your old man will always be proud of you.”
> 
> “Dad...”
> 
> “Now, RUN!”
> 
> “...”
> 
> “...”
> 
> “... You?”
> 
> “... I have a wife… And two children…”
> 
> “... So do what you will...”
> 
> “... For my lineage... Will still carry on...”


	5. Aged Master Red

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
“… So close, yet so far away…” Lucario muttered to himself as he looked unhappily at the inviting bed next to him, before erasing every thought of taking a quick nap. He faced the giant monster, preparing himself for battle.  
The beast was similar to Suicune in form, but had a yellow tone to its skin as well as black stripes. Its tail was twisted with hairy spikes stretching out in every direction, its face adorned with what appear to be a small iron helmet as well as a sky blue beard with two large fangs sticking out of it. Lucario immediately labeled it as a saber toothed tiger, having trouble taking all the extra details. The greatest similarity to Suicune was the long, purple mane that flowed behind its back like it had never experienced the sharp coldness of a scissor.  
The trainer on top looked like a very old man, with a beard almost greater than that of the furred creature he was sitting on. He was wearing a red cap on his head, which Lucario thought was quite unfitting for someone his age. While the aged man failed to strike him as half as intimidating as the cackling madman known as Brendan, he knew better than to understate the monster underneath.

“R-Raikou!?” Lucario could hear Zerobi stammer from behind the big tiger, “Have all the legendary dogs been captured!?”  
“Grr…” Lucario growled while gritting his teeth, “There are more?”  
“… Lucario” Red finally said, his voice both dignified and grave as he crossed his arms and looked down.  
“Tch…” Lucario exclaimed in annoyance, “Why does everyone know my name?”  
“No spikes. There is no doubt about it...” Red said as he uncrossed his arms, “I am afraid I must capture you.”  
“Yeah, figured as much” Lucario replied with a nod, looking the old man in the eye.  
“… You seem quite intelligent” Red said as he reached out a hand in a friendly gesture, “Will you come quietly?”  
“Hah! As if!” Lucario shouted, striking a battle pose, “I’m through with running away! It’s time I man up! Just take it easy, and don’t get a heart attack when I start getting serious!”  
“Hey!” Zerobi yelled accusingly as both Red and his steed seemed oblivious of her, “Are you crazy!? That’s a legendary Pokémon! You couldn’t even HIT Suicune!”  
“Don’t worry!” Lucario yelled back as his confidence overtook his fatigue, “The problem with fighting Suicune was that it had too much room to run around, this thing won’t escape me! Not to mention that this trainer’s already halfway down the grave!”  
“Oh, for crying out…” Zerobi groaned while seeing that Red and Raikou had for an unknown reason not begun fighting, instead remaining completely still for some reason, “Well, if you’re gonna attack, better do it before they can react!”  
“Of course! I’m not taking any risks this time!” Lucario said before he quickly dashed toward the motionless legendary, quickly trying to figure out if he should attack it like usual or try a new aura-based strike right off the bat.

He had not taken a single step towards the enemy before Raikou leaned back on its hind legs and Red crouched beneath the purple mane on its back. A massive electrical current instantly filled the entire room, making the bed and magazines on the ground crumple up and catch on fire. Neither Lucario nor Zerobi had even the tiniest chance of dodging as both their brains shut down and their legs folded on themselves.  
When the paralyzation subsided, it was replaced by a searing pain coursing through both of them as they twisted and turned in agony on the ground. Zerobi screamed out loud, but Lucario’s voice was already spent and he instead gave off a tormented wheeze. Yellow bolts of lightning shot out of them and struck the walls as well as Raikou, who seemed to be completely unaffected by them.  
As quickly as the thunder had struck, it was gone. Raikou stood tall above the two shaking cripples and saw the small papers around them turn into ash.

“Far too easy…” Red sighed to himself as he emerged from the purple mane, “Not even a battle anymore, just a single attack and it is over…”  
“… UGH!” Lucario cried as he held his stomach and felt like barfing. He was on his back, staring up at the open sky through the broken ceiling.  
“Good work, Raikou” Red said in a kind way while scratching Raikou who made an odd purr-like sound in return, “Pikachu would have been proud of you.”  
“B-Bastard…” Lucario stammered weakly, struggling to get up. The powerful shock had stunned his body, but more than that it had made him realize just how exhausted he really was. His legs cried out in pain after having been running for so long, and the previous experiments with aura had crippled his arms with a lingering burning sensation that even the electricity could not compare with. The way he was, there was nothing he could do… Except…

“My…” a sorrowful voice sounded from the other side of the room, “My occult magazines… All gone…”  
“Z-Zerobi… Run…!” Lucario shouted with the last of his strength, “He wants me!”  
“I can’t…!” Lucario heard Zerobi respond from behind Raikou.  
“No, I got you into this…” Lucario kept going, thinking that at the very least he would not have her life on his conscience, “You must leave me behind, an-“  
“I said, I can’t!” Zerobi yelled back with an angry tone, “I’m paralyzed!” While they were talking, Red had turned around and finally noticed the wounded Weavile behind him.  
“Oh…” Red said sadly as he stroked his beard, “… You were there all this time? Forgive me for involving you in this… We will be on our now shortly.” As he finished apologizing, he pulled a Pokéball from his belt at a speed comparable to Raikou’s lightning, turned around and threw it at Lucario. Barely mobile, Lucario saw it coming and somehow managed to roll to the side in order to escape it. The Pokéball hit the ground, before instantly flying back. He thought it might be a boomerang-like attack and kept his head down, but instead it simply returned to Red’s outstretched hand.

“This will be a lot easier if you just let yourself get caught…” Red sighed again, putting the Pokéball back in his belt.  
“I will n-never be caught!” Lucario wheezed defiantly, even though he himself was having a hard time finding another way out of this.  
“Listen closely” Red continued as he leaned forward and spoke as clearly as possible, “Either I catch you right now, or I will just have to use that electric attack again until you are completely immobile… And that is something neither of us want, right?”  
“D-Don’t think you can…” Lucario kept going, trying to sit up but failing and falling on his back again.  
“Do not be afraid…” Red said calmly, “As my Pokémon, you can be assured that I will let never let any harm come to you.”  
“Screw you! I’m…” Lucario growled as he finally managed to sit up and tried standing up before falling on his knees in exhaustion, “… I belong to no one!” Before he could react, Red pulled out another Pokéball and threw it at him from his hip. Half of Lucario’s brain told him that such an absurd throw would never hit, while the other one was registering the fact that the green and white ball was slowly filling up his vision…

Lucario flinched as the contraption hit him right between the eyes, not really feeling it between the gaping wound on his shoulder, the burning sensation lingering in his arms and heavy damage everywhere else from the electricity. The ball fell down to the ground and started rolling away into a corner of the cave. Lucario tripped forward in shock expecting to turn into a red light, but noticed that his body remained solid and stopped himself with his arms halfway down.

“This is…” Red said with a pause as he stared at the collapsed wolf, “… Most unusual.” Time seemed to stand still for the three of them as Red thought about his next move, Zerobi and Lucario too stunned to think or act. After a long while, Red sighed deeply as he reached down to the backside of his belt and drew yet another Pokeball, one that was purple and white with large pink spots on it as surrounding an insignia of the letter ‘M’.

“The Master Ball - Quite a rarity” Red said to himself while adoring the machine in his hands for bit, “Even someone like me has trouble getting hands on one. It is precious, and really should not be used in a situation like this…” Zerobi knew all too well what he was talking about and begun scrambling away in terror, but Lucario was still wondering how he had managed not to get caught earlier.  
“You… You gonna bludgeon me to death, or what?” Lucario said slowly, getting up on his knees again.  
“Hmpf… It is not like I can take it with me once I am dead” Red continued as he clutched the master ball in his hand and turned his cap backwards in a determined manner, “Currently, my duty to capture you to ensure the safety of the future generations... And I will do everything I can to do so!”

The master ball escaped Red’s hand with a powerful throw and was sent spinning at Lucario with precise aim and amazing speed. For a moment Lucario thought about letting it hit him between the eyes again, but instead held out his hands in an attempt to stop it. He managed to catch it between his paws in midair, completely stopping it.

“The Master Ball… Failed…?” Red gasped in disbelief, “This… This cannot be!”  
“Looks like… The one to catch something…” Lucario said with a smile feeding off his opponent’s surprise, “… Was me.”  
“The only way that you cannot be caught by a master ball …” Red continued in an attempt to gather his thoughts, “… Is if you are not a Pokémon.”  
“Heh…” Lucario chortled as he held the master ball in one hand, imitating Red from earlier, “Lucky me, then.”  
“I never thought it would come to this…” Red kept going, having completely lost his cool as impossibility stared him in the face, “I cannot capture you, does that mean that I have to…” He suddenly became quiet and hunched over, seemingly in a battle of morals with himself.  
“… No” he finally said out loud, sitting upright again, “Absolutely not. With the description I was given… But there are two of them… And this Lucario is…” He looked at the Weavile behind him, before looking at the Lucario in front of him, and finally lowered his head in a hopeless gesture.

“… You win” Red finally said as he scratched his beard, “If I cannot capture you, I am unable to become victorious.”  
“I…” Lucario said as his vision grew foggy.  
“Listen closely. I could end your life right here and now, but I will not. I only ask you for one thing in return…” Red said in a deep, serious voice as he stared at Lucario with gentle eyes, “… Please, do not make me regret it.”

Giving off a faint smile behind the beard, Red held on as Raikou howled and jumped through the hole above them, leaping on the walls to get outside.  
“Take… That… You… Dull… Old…” Lucario stammered cockily, before exhaling and collapsing on the floor. The two Pokémon lay pained and immobile, and within seconds the cave was silent once more.

\- - - - - - - - - -

"I had five months of vacation stored up... And you take me to a place called 'Snowpoint City'?"

"Cerulean City never gets any snow, I thought you'd like it!"

"Are you implying that I have never seen snow before? I can assure you that it has never been a pleasant experience, including right now"

"It'll be worth it once you see the Snowpoint Temple!"

"... Temple? Make that especially right now..."

"Yeah! It's really old, and quite the sight from what I've heard!"

"OK, this has gone on far enough. Tell me, what part of me EVER gave off the signal that I would want to spend my vacation visiting a bloody temple!?"

"B-But... I..."

"I was looking forward to sipping berry juice by a pool somewhere while making snide remarks to people passing by and annoying the clerks by pretending that I'm deaf..."

"... I'm... Sorry..."

"I hereby permanently revoke your permission to pick vacation spots"

"... No!"

"With all the work I've had to do lately, I can't afford something like this. I need a master of being lazy to pick out a good spot. Like that Croagunk... He always seems to find the best places to lurk around..."

"Um..."

"What?"

"Look to your right"

"... What, did I miss a particularly snowy tree? One where the snow has the branches weighed down to join its brethren on the ground? Wait, you're not going to slap me or something, right?"

"Just do it!"

"Because if you do, I WILL have you arrested for assaulting an officer of the law!"

Just turn your head around!"

"Fine, but there's absolutely no possibility anything could make up for..."

"..."

"... Holy crap, is that...!?"

"Mm-hmm"

"N-No way! That is... I can't..."

"I-I thought you'd like it..."

"LIKE IT!? Way to play me for a fool with that whole innocent screw-up thing!"

"I learned from the best, after all!"

"C'mere, you... Heh, this is NOW a vacation! Nothing could possibly ruin it!"

"Ah! Don't say that, or something'll happen for sure!"

"What, you still believe in all that occult stuff? Haha! Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen... Now, let's enjoy ourselves for once!"


	6. Downtime (Epilogue of Episode I)

The atmosphere was cool as the two Pokemon lay on the ground of the cave, staring up through the hole in the ceiling. Neither of them felt like talking, instead preferring to lie still and recover as best they could. The only one with a question positively burning in her mind was Zerobi.  
  
"Why?" Zerobi groaned after a few minutes, breaking the silence, "Why didn't the Pokéball work?"  
"… He said so himself, didn't he?" Lucario groaned back since he was already sick of not being able to give a straight answer, "I'm not a Pokémon."  
"… What…?" Zerobi whispered as if she had heard him wrong.  
"I'm human" Lucario continued while trying to ignore a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder, "Grr… I was human up until just recently, when I suddenly woke up in this strange body."  
"… Huh…?" Zerobi mumbled in a confused way.  
"I don't remember how it happened, but I was a blue wolf being chased by the police dog squad" Lucario tried to chuckle, but simply could not through all the pain, "Then I met you."  
"Wait, you're serious?" Zerobi asked, before giving off several rapid coughs. It sounded very painful and Lucario became worried, but was too weak to even bend up to see how much damage she had taken.  
"… So?" Lucario said, "Have you heard anything like it before?"  
"No" Zerobi replied with her dazedness apparent, "I mean, there's a classic movie series dealing with it, but I've never heard about it actually happening."  
"Pokémon watch movies?" Lucario asked as he noticed the heavy scent of ash in the air, "Hmm… Well, seems you read magazines, too…"  
"... My magazines…" Zerobi said sadly, before they both went quiet for a while. Fresh air entering from outside had already begun to replace the smoke as well as the dankness that had filled the cave for so many centuries. Dreading the next rainfall, she wondered if there was any way to fix it.  
  
"… We can't stay here" Zerobi said after many moments of silence and coming up short of ideas, "It's not much of a hiding place with a direct pipeline leading outside above us."  
"It wasn't much of a hiding place to begin with!" Lucario said loudly, "They found us, didn't they?"  
"And that's not even the strangest thing that happened today…" Zerobi sighed as she noticed her paralyzation diminishing and finally sat upright, "So, what are you going to do now?"  
"… Do?" Lucario replied, for the first time in his life feeling envious of not being able to sit up.  
"Yeah" Zerobi kept going as she added a hint of sarcasm to her voice, "Mr. Human-Pokémon-That-Cannot-Be-Caught?"  
"… Stick with Lucario" Lucario mumbled quietly, "Well, I'm probably still being chased by Suicune and a bunch of other jerkoffs, so I guess I've got to get on the run again."  
"Where?" Zerobi asked bluntly.  
"… Away?" Lucario responded, trying to out-blunt her.  
"Ugh…" Zerobi kept going, as she fell on her back again in exhaustion, "Do you have any supplies?"  
"I don't have anything but the clothes I'm wearing…" Lucario said depressingly before wanting to lighten up the mood a little, "… You know, my pants. Guess that's more than you."  
  
For the next couple of minutes, they were both quiet. Zerobi was lying immobile on the ground, which Lucario thought was peculiar seeing how she was obviously able to sit up now. At first he did not question it as he felt relieved that he would get a chance to rest undisturbed, but as time passed he started to get worried. She had also been hit by the immense attack from Raikou earlier, and if she was not as resilient as he was…  
  
"Hey… Are you still alive?" Lucario asked, trying to pick up any sign of life from his vertical position.  
"… Fine" Zerobi suddenly said out loud.  
"… Fine, what?" Lucario asked.  
"I'll come with you" Zerobi said, sitting up again.  
"Uh…" Lucario exclaimed in surprise, "No, 'alive' means 'not dead' in human language."  
"Hmpf, I know what I said…" Zerobi muttered, "Either that or I stay here, in this broken hiding place that soon will probably be swarming with nasty trainers trying to bring you to justice."  
"… You miss Suicune or something?" Lucario asked as he tried to figure out a way to dissuade her, "This isn't a pleasure cruise, everyone I meet is going to want me dead."  
"Don't worry, I'm not exactly wanted by the law as it is" Zerobi snickered to herself, "We'll have a better chance of survival if we stick together."  
"No, just…" Lucario continued, not knowing what to say or do, "You're cool and all, but I always work alone. I don't need a partner."  
"Obviously you do, since you don't seem to know anything about Pokémon" Zerobi responded quickly and confidently, "In exchange, you can… No, you'd _better_ tell me what it's like being human."  
"… Being human, eh?" Lucario whispered to himself. Finally being able to move his arms a little, he felt something next to his right hand. Looked down, he saw the master ball Red had used earlier on the ground, discarded like an useless tool. He was still a bit curious after all the buildup the aged trainer had given, and managed to pick it up in his right hand.  
  
"Oh hey, that's…" Zerobi mumbled as she saw the thing in his hand which suddenly made her stammer, "… A-A master ball!?"  
"Huh… I don't get it" Lucario said before holding up the ball above him in order to study it in the light coming from outside, "How can such a small thing contain a Pokémon?"  
"It's quite complicated science…" Zerobi sighed, relived that the scary contraption was not in the hands of their enemy, "All I know is that if it gets you, you're a slave for the rest of your life."  
"Hmm… I kind of want to try it out…" Lucario said slowly, eyeing the room for Zerobi's location.  
"K-Keep that thing away from me…!" Zerobi stuttered frightfully as fear welled up in her and she took a step back from him.  
"You wanted to be with me, right?" Lucario said with a smile, "How about I catch you right now and make you my Pokémon?"  
"W-What!?" Zerobi exclaimed, taken off guard by this unexpected turn of events. Lucario held the master ball high up into the air before throwing it away. It hit the bed in the corner of the room, and settled down quietly.  
  
"Nah, just kidding" Lucario said, making Zerobi exhale deeply. He gave up on trying to moving as the mere action of throwing away the ball had used up the very last of his strength.  
"Man, do you even know how scary it is, worrying about being captured by something like that!?" Zerobi shouted angrily at him, "Don't abuse your privileges, and don't joke around about it!"  
"Y-You've got to have a sense of humor… If you're going to follow me…" Lucario said weakly, the world spinning around him as he felt like he was fainting.  
"What? Now you'll let me come?" Zerobi responded, failing to disguise the eagerness in her voice.  
"… Just… Let me sleep on it…" Lucario mumbled as he turned around and closed his eyes. Zerobi's silence signified that he would finally gain the well deserved rest he had been craving so long. All the anguish and confusion softly faded away as he fell into a deep slumber. 


	7. Smug Chief Snivy

Zerobi sighed in relief as both she and Lucario exited the store. Snowpoint City was fairly rural and by no means a large town, located within the harsh climates north of Sinnoh. Most shopkeepers would refuse to serve Pokémon, but as long as they have a good demeanor and most importantly money there will always be a place or two that wouldn't turn them down.  
She knew they had been lucky to find such a store so quickly, and couldn't help but feel that her cloak and Lucario's pants had something to do with it. Perhaps it was the fact that he had bought a human backpack to store all their newly bought items in? She sighed once more as they began walking down the street, unhindered by the snow on the ground as it had already been trampled solid by waves and waves of various creatures.  
  
"I'm never going shopping with you again" Zerobi mumbled with disdain.  
"Oh, excuse me for prioritizing provisions and transportation in front of some stupid magazine!" Lucario snapped back, adjusting the large blue backpack so that it would sit more comfortably on his shoulders.  
"It's not stupid!" Zerobi shouted while giving him an angry glare, "For all we know, it might have contained the answer to your transformation!"  
"You can always read this one once I'm done with it!" Lucario laughed, pointing to the charred and blood soaked remains of her favorite paper which had been tied around his upper arm to cover up his wound.  
"… I don't want it…" Zerobi wheezed in a disgusted way. Seeing the minute amount of money she had saved for the past years being used up to buy travel supplies made her realize that the peaceful and carefree times she had gotten used to were finally over.  
  
"My entire collection… Gone. My home… Destroyed" she mumbled depressingly to herself, "My cloak is all ruined, too…"  
"Uh… Don't you think you should do something about that last one?" Lucario mumbled, not being able to help himself and casting a quick glance between her legs, "… It's pretty dirty, you know?"  
"Yeah…" Zerobi sighed, thinking he was referring to the cloak as she took a gander between his legs in return, "You know, I've always wondered… Where'd you get those pants from?"  
"Huh?" Lucario exclaimed surprised, "They were on me when I woke up."  
"… Can you take them off?" Zerobi continued, too curious to care about any deeper meanings of what she had just said.  
"Of course!" Lucario responded confidently before a thought suddenly hit him, "… Hmm, they're not the pants I had as a human, though… Maybe I should be wondering who put them there in the first place…?"  
"… You have to ask?" Zerobi asked snidely.  
"Hey! Wearing clothes is natural!" Lucario said loudly, realizing that since he was a Pokémon now the question was not that out of place, "To me, anyway… Waking up naked? That would've been a shock!"  
"… I don't get it" Zerobi muttered, and was about to ask a follow-up question when they were both interrupted.  
  
"Lucario!" a high pitched voice sounded directly behind them. Halting himself, Lucario was not sure if he should even bother to turn around and see who it was or just spin and strike it down with a roundhouse kick right away.  
"Are you Lucario!?" the voice sounded again, this time at a lower elevation than before. Lucario slowly turned around to face whoever it was, only to see nothing in front of him. A crowd of strange Pokémon were standing a few feet away, staring at him intently.  
"Huh…?" he mumbled before feeling a tugging on his pants. He looked down and saw a few large blades of grass sticking up at him. Looking closer, he noticed that they were growing out of some kind of purple ball with huge glittering eyes. For some reason it was looking back and forth at his hands and staring at his chest, before a happy mouth suddenly appeared beneath the eyes.  
  
"… It IS you!" the plant exclaimed in pure joy, "Lucario! I watch your show every day!" Lucario was instantly reminded of the penguin he had met back when he took shelter from the mighty blizzard, but couldn't help but stare at the strange thing. He saw a set of feet sticking out of the purple ball, but with no legs or arms to be seen anywhere.  
"Can I see the aura sphere? Are you two a couple? Say 'Watch the power of aura!'" the grassy being continued endlessly while bouncing up and down in joy.  
"Hey… You know this Oddish?" Zerobi leaned closer and whispered to him.  
"…Eh? Uh…" Lucario mumbled, completely entranced by the bizarre creature, "No… But yeah, it's pretty… Odd-ish…"  
"I apologize for this" a Vileplume giggled delightfully as she moved over to the Oddish, "My son simply can't stop talking about that Wholesome Wanderer Lucario!"  
"No, mom! It's 'Lonesome Wanderer Lucario!'" the Oddish corrected with a horrified expression, "Look! No spikes!"  
"Hmm?" the Vileplume exclaimed as she too began staring at Lucario's hands and chest, "Why, you're right! People must have the two of you confused all the time!"  
"D… Seems that way…" Lucario said in a strange way, not paying any attention as his brain was busy wondering how on earth a creature without legs could hop around so easily.  
"Again, I apologize" the Vileplume said while turning around to leave, "Come now, if you don't get home in time you'll miss the show!"  
"B-But…" the Oddish stammered before running after her mother, "Mom! It was really him!" The two of them become more and more distanced as Zerobi suddenly jabbed Lucario's side.  
"Didn't know you were famous" she said with a sinister smile.  
"I'm not" Lucario muttered, "Yet everyone seems to think they know me, for some reason…" He could not stop thinking about how he had been moments away from making a big mistake. At the very least he knew that a roundhouse kick would not have hit such a short target, but even so the shame was something even he could not dodge.  
  
"Well, you do look a bit unique…" Zerobi said while quietly looking him over, "… What happened to your spikes?"  
"My spikes?" Lucario asked as an image of his teeth popped up in his head, "Covered by my mouth, like usual."  
"No, I mean the ones on your hands and chest" Zerobi continued, pointing at his chest. Looking down at it, Lucario only saw a patch of long yellow chest hair that currently had a sharp claw hovering dangerously close.  
"… My fur?" Lucario asked again, not really sure what was going on and getting a chill at the thought of the claw piercing him.  
"No!" Zerobi shouted with a hint of anger in her voice, "Lucario usually have big spikes sticking out of them! Where are yours?"  
"Must've forgotten to put them on this morning" Lucario snickered, much to Zerobi's annoyance. She was about to keep going with the verbal rant, but noticed that a few Pokémon had stopped as well and were now staring at them.  
"Oh yeah…" Lucario whispered as he too noticed the scene they were making, "Is it really OK for us to be walking around in public like this?"  
"Nope" Zerobi responded before lowering her arm. They both stood quiet for a while before they started walking again.  
  
Finally alone with himself, many odd thoughts and theories filled Lucario when he walked through the city. There were bizarre monsters everywhere he looked, the second more bewildering than the first. He had no idea how so fundamentally different species could even comprehend co-existing, especially not when he himself had spent so little time in this place and already been hunted and almost killed twice. He once again tried to chalk it up to the humans of this place being evil, but was able to gain faint remembrance of the very first encounter he had when he woke up in his new body…  
A sharp defensive mechanism suddenly pushed away the thought from his mind as he once again began staring at the Pokémon passing by. He found it strange that neither Zerobi nor the other Pokémon seemed to pay much notice to each other, like a rhinoceros made out of rock or an animate tree was something they saw every day.  
  
"… Made me use Pay Day over and over again! For cash!" he heard a cat on two legs shout a few feet away, talking to what appeared to be a gathering of animate eggs. He saw that the cat had a large coin lodged in its head, and wondered if it was natural or just a freak accident.  
  
"… Needed a Sun Stone, but he kept insisting that I'd evolve if I just stayed in the sunlight…" a small thing that seemed to be made out of wood with a puffy bush sticking out of its head said to a black horse with white spiky mane. Apart from the color, the mane of the horse reminded Lucario quite a bit of Raikou, and he silently made a promise to himself not to rush into battle the next time as they walked past them.  
  
"… And so I told him that he was twice as annoying as a rash-inducing tickle and only half as worthy of laughter…" a slender yet unusually short reptile carrying a bag said to an equally short cat with brown fur. had a sudden urge to hug nuzzle his face into the fluffy being, but repressed it. Seeing how these were far more intelligent than your average pet it might not purr in response, but instead consider it sexual harassment or something.  
  
The instant the reptile and cat passed them by, a powerful chill ran through the air. Zerobi muffled a startled sound and looked like she had just swallowed dung. The reptile received a similar effect that moment, barely casting a glance at them as he kept on walking.  
Lucario was lost in his thoughts and did not notice that Zerobi was slowing down. Behind them, the reptile suddenly stopped, making the cat stop as well.  
  
"Impossible…" the reptile whispered to himself in anguish, as his partner looked at him with confused eyes. Then she noticed the black creature that they had just passed by. She made a soft whimper and began hyperventilating.  
"Z-Zerobi…!" she stammered with panic, feeling like her heart would stop at that moment or at the very least be crushed by the pressure building up in her chest.  
"No…" the reptile said in disbelief before turning around with a furious look on his face, "… Umk, that blundering fool! I knew he couldn't be trusted with anything!"  
"You must have me mistaken with someone else…" Zerobi said in a far more depressing voice than any of them had ever heard before. It sounded like the sorrowful wails from beyond the grave of a coldhearted killer, completely unlike her usual demeanor.  
"I have seen your face in my nightmares for the past seven years…" the reptile muttered before shaking his head in an attempt to comprehend the situation, "Don't tell me… During all this time…"  
"… No! You can't still be alive!" the cat shouted in terror, making Zerobi flinch. The words pierced her heart and her head begun spinning as she was once more reminded of that horrible time of her life when the blood of others were flowing through her.  
"… Eve…" she whispered sadly as she looked at the cat, revisiting their time as friends a short time before seeing her defeated form cringing in terror before her blades.  
"… And Snivy…" she continued before looking over at the reptile, and once again she was in the storm of sharp leaves cutting at her from every direction while her mind was fogged by a red cloud of warm blood and insanity. For a moment her entire body began itching as from an acidic substance before being replaced by the wonderful feeling of life rushing through her, unwittingly fueling her existence, _looking for an escape, **pleading for a death that would not come-**_  
  
Fulfillment collided with suffering. Pleasure with disgust. Acceptance with loathing. Her mind shattered and her world collapsed as she fell to her knees, crying.  
"I…" she stuttered while tears from in her eyes, "I'm… I'm so… So… Sorry!"  
"You freak…!" Snivy spat reviled, "You think you can-"  
"It wasn't me!" Zerobi kept going, the tears now flowing down her face as she looked at two Pokémon in front of her, "I… The blood made me insane! I'm normal again!"  
"Hmpf…" Snivy huffed while crossing his arms, "Apparently, you're still as crazy as ever… If you think there's any hope for redemption after what you've done."  
"I-It was the blood, it…" Zerobi continued futily, searching for forgiveness but already knowing that she would find none, "… It controlled me! I became addicted to it!"  
"… All the more reason to end you right now!" Snivy shouted as he gave up on keeping things cool and threw the bag he was carrying to the side, "Eve! Run! Get backup!" Eve instantly turned around and ran as Zerobi helplessly reached out a hand to try and stop her. Meanwhile, the leaf at the end of Snivy's tail was growing larger, as he suddenly did a backflip causing the giant leaf to detach from him and fly spinning vertically at Zerobi. It roared like a buzz saw as she noticed the attack coming, but seeing Eve fleeing in fear and the angry Snivy ready for the kill in front of her she simply could not bring herself to avoid it. Instead, she lowered her head and closed her eyes, prepared to face her long overdue judgment.  
  
While she had expected to be cut by the leaf, she was instead hit by a blunt strike. Opening her eyes momentarily she saw an elbow leaving her face, knocking her back on her ass. Standing in front of her was Lucario, gripping the sides of the large whirling leaf between his hands.  
"Yeah. That's not going to happen" he said confidently as the leaf stopped spinning and Snivy's mouth dropped in shock.  
"Y-You protected her!?" he yelled in utter disbelief, "Who the hell are you!?"  
"I don't know what went on in the past between you two…" Lucario said calmly while seeing the brown cat disappear around the corner of a house far away, "… Or three… But if you think I'm going to just stand by and watch you execute a crying girl…"  
"Girl!? That word has never been less fitting!" Snivy shouted before pointing at the stunned Weavile, "She's a complete monster!"  
"Hah! Coming from someone like you, that's an insult!" Lucario scoffed, "Then again, I'd expect nothing less from a slimy reptile!"  
"MOVE!" Snivy bellowed and took a step forward, "I don't have time for this! She must not be allowed to live!"  
"Like I already said, that's not going to happen…" Lucario snickered before realizing what he had just said, "I mean, that's going to happen. She's going to live. I owe her my life, after all…"  
"N-No, Lucario…" Zerobi whispered, feeling suicidal at this point, "You don't understand…"  
"Just stay there" Lucario said triumphantly with his back facing her, "It's time for me to repay the favor."  
  
Lucario's highly clichéd behavior took Zerobi by complete surprise and hit her like a truck, momentarily bringing her out of her shell of self-hatred. She had been willing to die just a few seconds ago, but after being struck by his ridiculous behavior she couldn't help but give off the faintest of smiles. Meanwhile, Lucario was feeling very cool and prepared himself for battle as suddenly a very loud noise echoed through the sky.  
  
"CITIZENS OF SNOWPOINT! A POWERFUL POKÉMON HAS BEEN DETECTED WITHIN THE CITY BORDERS!" a strangely metallic voice said in a calm yet decisive manner, "PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!"  
  
"Oh…" Snivy said as a faint smile began developing on his face as well, "Looks like they'll be the ones to beat you up. This is going to be fun to watch…"  
"What the hell was that!?" Lucario shouted angrily while covering his big ears, "Argh! Damn that was loud!"  
"… No!" Zerobi said as she suddenly stood up in panic, "The detectors! But how!?"  
"Hey! Are you OK?" Lucario said as he turned around to meet her face and noticing that signs of tears were still present on it.  
"No time!" Zerobi yelled while searching for an escape route, "Crap, we're in big trouble… We have to run before _they_ get here!"


	8. Fearsome Four Mienfoo

With Zerobi still recovering from her mental breakdown and Lucario's brain having been scrambled from the loud noise, Snivy finally felt that he had gained control of the situation.  
  
"Don't bother running, there's no escape…" Snivy snickered as he raised one of his extremely small arms menacingly, "Give up now, you've made a lot of friends on the police force that want to meet you personally! And when they're done, you might run into a few more in the afterlife!"  
"Damn it! We just got to run!" Zerobi shouted in a panicky voice before she suddenly dashed off while shooting Lucario a quick glance, "Come on!" Lucario didn't have time to think, instinctually following her.  
"Stay a little longer!" Snivy yelled as he tossed himself forward, shooting out two vines from his hands that hit Lucario's back. Lucario kept running, but the vines quickly crawled around his back and wrapped around his torso.  
"How'd you know I needed a belt!?" Lucario laughed before he felt a jerk in his abdomen as the vines threatened to halt his movement. Instead he started running harder, and Snivy's light body caused him to be pulled along. Lucario looked back and saw the slippery lizard dragging on the ground behind him, still keeping a strong hold.  
"Let go, you slimy… Scaly…" Lucario yelled as he noticed the vines were crawling down his body.  
"No! Don't let them constrict you!" Zerobi shouted, but it was too late as Lucario suddenly felt his legs tighten up. He tripped and crashed on the ground as Snivy swiftly slithered up to him. As he was creating more vines, he sensed danger and made a leap backwards to avoid the fast punch that whisked by him.  
  
"A fist?" Snivy asked with a snide smile, "What's wrong? I thought you liked my blood!"  
"I liked it a lot more when you were keeping your mouth shut during battle…" Zerobi mumbled before hunching over and quickly severing the vines around Lucario's legs.  
"Hmpf!" Snivy scoffed loudly as he leaped towards the two of them, holding two vines in each hand and getting ready to seal them both. However, his plans were interrupted as Lucario stood up and turned around at the same time, extending his right leg in a spinning motion and hitting Snivy square in the head with a roundhouse kick. He was sent flying and was about to hit a pole of some kind of pole sticking out of the ground as he suddenly twisted around it and grabbed a hold with his snake-like body.  
"Y-You…" he stammered as several leaves spread from his body, making Zerobi flinch while Lucario remained unaware and unaffected. However, Snivy's vision began to darken as he passed out from the powerful blow to his head, and fell down to the ground.  
  
"Huh…" Zerobi said as she looked at Snivy and remembered how much trouble he had given her seven years ago, "He must be getting old…" She blinked twice in rapid succession before they started running again.  
"About time one of these things went down!" Lucario shouted triumphantly while they ran past a few startled onlookers, "Roundhouse kicks to the head are super effective! I should write this down…" Zerobi didn't even smile as they kept running in silence, Lucario noticing that her eyes were a bit more emptier than usual, as if her earlier tears had cleaned them out. He had been too busy in his own thoughts to hear the conversation she and the lizard had earlier, but thought that things would be fine as long as he beat it up. Seeing her like this made him realize that something had left a deep lasting impact on her.  
"Hey, you don't look so good…" Lucario started before suddenly noticing a strange sensation all around them, "Speaking of not-so-good, I sense a couple of strong beings approaching us."  
  
"… What?" Zerobi asked in a worried voice as she snapped out of her inner cocoon, "A couple? Four of them!? WHERE!?"  
"Uh…" Lucario mumbled while trying to make sense out of the weird feeling he had, "Not really sure. Here, there… Everywhere?"  
"We don't stand a chance if they find us!" Zerobi shouted as she took a sharp turn past a large house, "Come on! Let's run faster!"  
"Warn me about the turns!" Lucario responded as he stumbled in the wrong direction, struggling to keep up. He suddenly felt the odd sensations converge somehow, and saw that Zerobi had stopped a few feet in front of him. He ran up to her before stopping as well, seeing that something ahead of them that were blocking their way.  
  
"Fearless! Fit! Formidable! Flawless!" one of them yelled. It had the appearance of a humanoid ferret with fine fur in soft yellow and wine red colors.  
"Fearsome! Ferocious! Frantic! Forceful!" another one continued. It appeared that they were all the same kind of Pokémon, perhaps even twins due to their many similarities.  
"Feisty! Festive! Fuzzy! Friendly!" the third one kept going. Their voices went from strong and masculine to meek yet full of determination, so Lucario quickly gave up on determining their genders.  
"… Uh, forgetful…?" the fourth one whispered in a low tone, making the other three stare angrily at him.  
"The Fierce Fighting Force has assembled!" they all shouted in unison, each striking an individual pose.  
  
"… As you can see, they're insanely silly, but-" Zerobi groaned with a bright blush appearing on her face, resisting the urge of slapping her forehead despite her dangerous claws.  
"Don't worry, I can tell" Lucario interrupted as just being near them made him tingle all over, "They're damn powerful."  
"The four Mienfoo…" Zerobi said quietly as they eyed her intently, "I saw them take down a Dragonite and Flygon in a heartbeat once…"  
"Uh… You don't have some long-lost ally that's going to jump in and bail us out of this?" Lucario asked jokingly, "You know, just to save me the surprise?  
"Heh… I guess this is it…" Zerobi chortled as her sanity started decreasing, "First Mienshao, and now I'll be taken down by four fighting-types… What a way to go!"  
"Fighting… Types…?" Lucario mumbled questioningly, "They're unlike all those others things we fought… How?"  
"Come on!" Zerobi shouted as her impending doom whittled away her patience, "You're a fighting-type!"  
"I sure am!" Lucairo responded cheerfully, "Not only that - I'm a winning-type, too!"  
"I assume that you are not willing to come with us quietly!" one of the Mienfoo said loudly, the four of them still remaining immobile.  
"You assume correctly!" Lucario shouted back as he struck a battle pose of his own, "Now, let's get started!"  
"Uh…" Zerobi said as she took a step away from the eager Lucario, "This Lucario does not represent me… I'll go quietly."  
"Affirmative! Take out the brute!" another Mienfoo yelled as it suddenly dashed towards the Lucario who was busy staring at his partner in disbelief.  
  
The Mienfoo delivered a punch as fast a lightning directly at Lucario's face. Quickly yet lightly pushing its arm to the side, Lucario made the punch miss him completely as he hit the Mienfoo's leg with a short kick, making it stumble a bit. Suddenly Lucario began pounding away, attacking with a flurry of hooks to its head and ending with an uppercut that made it soar up into the air. Not wasting a moment, Lucario jumped up and kicked the Mienfoo straight forward, sending it flying past its stunned friends and crash into the wall of a nearby house.  
  
"B-Bro! You'll regret that!" the second Mienfoo yelled as it ran towards Lucario. Also preparing to simply punch him in the face, Lucario ducked and spun around to deliver a leg sweep. The Mienfoo lost balance as both its legs flew up in the air and it fell on the ground. Instantly, Lucario raised his own leg high above his own head before dropping it on the head of the Mienfoo in front of him, burrowing it into the dirt.  
  
"W-What the…" Zerobi stammered at this unexpected turn of events.  
"Hah! What kind of fighting style was that? Dumbass-fu?" Lucario laughed as the Mienfoo clutched the back of his head in pain and the others simply stood and stared at them.  
"Far stronger than the detectors said! Surround him!" the third Mienfoo shouted as the two remaining split off in different directions and was in front of Lucario as well as to his side.  
"Pathetic! You're gonna surround me with only two people?" Lucario chuckled as the two of them began approaching him. The one to his side suddenly made a small leap towards him, preparing a jump kick.  
Lucario took a step toward the Mienfoo in front of him, making the jumping one miss. The Mienfoo tried to ram him with his entire body while Lucario struck a powerful blow at the side of his head. The Mienfoo bumped into Lucario, but soon collapsed from the trauma to his head as Lucario saw the other one jumping at him again.  
  
"You like staying airborne, huh?" he said, crouching down as far as possible. Waiting until the Mienfoo was directly above him, he sprung up and grabbed it from beneath, pushing it up into the air. He quickly realized his mistake as he didn't manage to get a grip of the Mienfoo's right leg, and it came down and struck him across the chest. Lucario became temporarily stunned as the Mienfoo used him as a foothold and jumped away. Lucario was thrown down to the ground, but quickly regained his footing as the Mienfoo once again jumped towards him.  
"Using the same attack three times in a row!? Seems that you have mastered dumbass-fu!" Lucario yelled defiantly before jumping slightly higher than the Mienfoo. The moment he was directly above it he struck down with a mighty stomp. The Mienfoo tried its best to remain conscious, but combining the hit from the Lucario's feet with the hard ground proved to be too much for its head.  
  
Lucario did not have time to celebrate as he sensed a large amount of aura rushing at him. Sidestepping instinctively, he saw a large orange sphere of some kind fly past him from behind, hitting the side of a building further away and causing a great explosion. Knowing how close it was for him to be at the center of it, he spun around and saw the Mienfoo he had sweeped still lying on the ground, but holding out his arm in Lucario's direction.  
  
"You… Shall… Not…" the Mienfoo stammered with a furious stare.  
"Hahaha…" Lucario snickered with an agitated tone, "… You call that an Aura Sphere? No… THIS IS AN AURA SPHERE!" Lucario thrust his right hand forward as an explosion of blue fire engulfed it. The Mienfoo kept staring as Lucario crouched down, screaming in agony.  
"Oh, for the love of…" Zerobi groaned while the Mienfoo slowly rose to its feet.  
"AAARGHHHH!" Lucario wailed, knowing that he would not be able to keep fighting like this, "STOP HIM! CUT HIM! GRAAAHHH!"  
"I can't!" Zerobi shouted with a panicked tone, "I'll get blood on me!"  
"SUCK IT UP!" Lucario screamed as he saw the Mienfoo charge up another attack, "DO SOMETHING!"  
"I-I don't want to become your accomplice…" Zerobi kept going, shaking in terror as she saw the attack that had once burned through her back and chest in action.  
"BITCH, I'M YOUR ACCOMPLICE!" Lucario bellowed. Something finally gave way within Zerobi, and she quickly ran up to the Mienfoo. It gave her a silent glance before being completely frozen by the cold wind she exhaled.  
  
"Geez, finally…" Lucario growled as the most excruciating pain in his hand subsided."  
"I'm sorry…" Zerobi said softly as she approached Lucario, "After seeing Eve and Snivy I guess I'm still a bit… Shattered…"  
"… So?" Lucario asked as he stood up like nothing had happened, "Are we going to keep running, or what?" Zerobi responded by gulping loudly before the two of them began running once more, leaving four failed fighters behind them.  
  
"I don't get it!" Zerobi shouted as they ran through a long alley, "Those four are famous around these parts for being extremely powerful! You even said so yourself!"  
"Sure, they were strong…" Lucario shouted back, "But I'm stronger! Not to mention they fought like drunken sailors…"  
"… Where the hell did that strength come from!?" Zerobi asked in anger spawned from confusion, "Why didn't you use that against Suicune!?"  
"I told you, I never even had a clue on how to fight something like that!" Lucario replied, "When it comes to blocking punches and countering kicks, you'll never find anyone better!"  
"You… I don't know what to sa-" Zerobi stared before interrupting herself, "HEADS UP!" An odd figure was standing in front of them at the end of the alley. Lucario dismissed it as another humanoid creature, but slowly began to notice something odd about it as they got nearer. Apart from having brightly yellow fur in contrast to his deep blue, as well as a chest noticeable due to three large things sticking out of it… It looked just like him!  
  
"W-What's going…" the creature stammered with a very soft and silky voice.  
"You're… Me!?" Lucario blurted out as he stopped himself, Zerobi following his lead.  
"We have no time for this, the police will be back any moment!" Zerobi yelled desperately, pushing the frozen Lucario forward, "Snap out of it, it's just another Lucario!"  
"Are you being chased by the police!?" the other Lucario asked in a startled way.  
"Yeah! Sorry we can't stay and chat, but-" Zerobi continued before being interrupted by the new Lucario grabbing a hold of her arm as well as Lucario's.  
"Quick! In here!" it said, dragging the two of them to a nearby house where the door stood open. They entered it quickly as the Lucario slammed the door behind them, shutting them off from the rest of the world and closing them in pitch black darkness.


	9. Hopeless Romantic Rukario

"I'm dumping this thing…" Zerobi muttered as she tore her cloak off and threw it away, "Stupid thing did nothing but hinder me the entire time…" For an instant Lucario felt like doing the same to his backpack, but his thoughts were interrupted as the other Lucario began moving towards him. He was frozen in place and could do nothing but stare at their savior while Zerobi slumped down next to a wall. He could tell that they were the same from head to toe, with one or two minor differences. It was like he was staring at a twisted reflection. The form of a Pokémon was not something he had gotten used to, but that did little to lessen the surreal sight of a slightly alternate version of himself.  
  
Firstly, he determined that the other Lucario had to be female, if her voice and protruding chest was anything to go by. Secondly, the word 'protruding' stuck in his mind as his eyes fixated on a giant spike sticking out of her torso, before shifting over and seeing two similar spikes stuck on the back of her hands. Even their clothing was similar, although her shorts seemed to be slightly more detailed and in better condition than his. It also seemed like the color of her fur had been inverted somehow, meaning that her chest was blue while her arms and legs were yellow, but it was hard to tell. Long strings of light seeping in through cracks in the walls and ceiling was the only thing keep the room from complete darkness.  
Those few holes came at the cost of warmth, as everyone except for Zerobi felt uncomfortably chilled. Even so Lucario barely paid any notice to it as he was still heated up from the earlier battle, and the female Lucario seemed to be far too occupied with eyeing him intently to notice something like that. He was starting to get uncomfortable, and felt that he should probably be doing something.  
  
"… Thanks…?" Lucario said, to which the other Lucario's ears twitched. Suddenly, she gave off a beaming smile that made her face noticeably brighten up, even in the darkness.  
"I knew it! I knew it was your aura I sensed!" she burst out happily, "Oh, Cyon… I-I was so worried!" The yellow Lucario cried tears of joy as she ran up to Lucario in the hopes of embracing him. However, Lucario noticed the giant spike sticking out of her chest, and sidestepped her instead. Zerobi couldn't help but look at the whole situation with amusement, as she felt quite at home in both the darkness and the cold.  
"Y-Your words don't match your actions!" Lucario stammered with a startled voice as the female Lucario turned around to face him. Her eyes were dimmed from tears as she was looking at him with confusion.  
"Cyon…? What are you…" she said slowly as her voice became more and more worried, "… Why are you looking at me like that…?"  
"… Like what? I've never even seen you before!" Lucario replied. The moment the other Lucario heard this she inhaled deeply in shock, her face instantly contorting into a mixture of surprise and sorrow.  
"B-But…" she stammered as she took a step closer so he would see her better, "It's me! Rukario! I'm your wife!"  
  
"My… WHAT!?" Lucario blurted out as he took a step backward in dazzlement. Now his face was also one of confusion as he looked around, his eyes suddenly locking with Zerobi's.  
"Uh, you don't have to pretend for my sake…" she mumbled, waving her hand in the air.  
"What? NO!" Lucario replied, struggling for an explanation, "I just got here, how on earth could I have a wife!?"  
"Cyon…" Rukario whispered softly as she moved closer, "Why are you doing this? Please stop…!"  
"Stop calling me Cyon! My name's…" Lucario shouted in annoyance before suddenly trailing off for a few moments, "… Lucario." He looked at Zerobi for a moment before looking back at Rukario, not really sure who he least wanted to try and explain everything to.  
"Cyon…" Rukario repeated sadly and moved even closer, the spike on her chest almost touching him at this point, "… What happened to you? I-I… I was so worried when you didn't come home…"  
"Listen…" Lucario said as he decided to man up and not back off anymore. He looked straight at her and tried his best to ignore the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.  
"You've got the wrong Pokémon, lady" he said bluntly, not even blinking.  
"Don't be silly! I'd recognize your face and voice anywhere!" she replied hopefully as she squeezed her hands to her chest in a praying motion, "Not to mention your… Lack of spikes…"  
"I think you're confused - I'm just another Lucario without spikes" Lucario continued while shaking his head, "This is stupid. Zerobi, tell her!"  
"Hmm… She seems to know you a little too well to be a complete stranger, though…" Zerobi muttered with a hint of doubt in her voice, "You sure you didn't just hit your head and forget about her or something?"  
"Grr… Not you too!" Lucario growled as he felt betrayed, "I told you! I'm a human! You don't just get memories from amnesia!"  
  
"… Is… Is that what this is about?" Rukario asked quietly while lowering her head, "… The human thing?"  
"Yeah!" Lucario responded quickly as he felt the situation turning in his favor, "No offense, but I could never get married to something like you!"  
"You always said that you wondered what it felt like to be human…" Rukario whispered before looking up at him again with tears seeping out of her, "Oh, my poor Cyon… What happened to you?"  
"Ugh, won't listen to reason…" Lucario mumbled as he shrugged to himself, "I guess being a typical woman goes beyond being human..."  
"Listen to me!" Rukario shouted straight in his face as she had a sudden stroke of determination, "You are not human! You are my husband! I am your wife! I have been searching for you all this ti-"  
"You found the wrong person, then!" Lucario interrupted while suddenly remembering the situation they were in, "Thanks for showing us this place - Now quiet down, or they'll find us."  
"Good idea" Zerobi suddenly chimed in, "Otherwise you can ask the police to find your missing husband while the two of us are being shipped off to some disciplinary camp…"  
"Wait… That's all that happens if we're caught?" Lucario asked as he turned around to see the Weavile sitting down in a corner of the room.  
"For you? Sure" Zerobi snickered darkly, "Me? They'll probably reinstate public executions…"  
"Considering how I've been treated by the humans so far, I'm pretty boned as well" Lucario chuckled while turning around to ignore the yellow Lucario, "Maybe they'll make it a double-feature?"  
"Please! Just… Just look at this picture!" Rukario pleaded as she reached into a pocket in the front of her pants and pulled out a small card with an image on it. Zerobi sighed, rose and walked over to them as they carefully bended over to look at it, Lucario feeling a little jealous that his pants had no storage facilities and thus were inferior to hers.  
The picture displayed two Pokémon with their arms around each other, on a large field of flowers with some kind of mountain behind them. It was of high quality, so the faces of two Pokémon were visible and easily identified as Lucario's and Rukario's. They were both smiling delightfully, Rukario looking as if she had just been told a good joke. While her face was recognizable, but it seemed as if it had become somewhat bleaker and lost some weight in comparison to the time this picture had been taken.  
  
"It is…" Zerobi stammered in disbelief, "It is really you. There is no doubt about it."  
"… It can't be!" Lucario said out loud while shaking his head, "It's like you said, just another Lucario!" A dreadful feeling came upon him when he started to realize that he faintly remembered what the environment in the picture looked like, from beyond the frames and from a completely different angle.  
"You fought too hard… You must have lost your memory somehow…" Rukario whispered as she looked up from the picture, a sorrowful and haunting smile across her face.  
"N-No!" Lucario stuttered as a lingering pain began forming in his head, "I… I haven't lost anything!"  
"Please… Just… I don't know what made you like this, but I promise…" Rukario continued while wiping one of the tears from her face, "… I promise that I will do whatever it takes to make you normal again!"  
"Shut up! I am normal!" Lucario shouted, keeping himself from clutching his throbbing head since it would make him look very suspicious. Looking at Zerobi, he was met with a face of both betrayal and anger.  
"Come here…" Rukario whispered as she walked up to the agitated Lucario, "I know something that might help you remember me…" She carefully took a hold of one of Lucario's reluctant hands, and then placed it on her left breast.  
"You always said our hearts are intertwined… Can't you feel it?" she continued as she lifted her head to the ceiling and closed her eyes, "My heart… Crying out for you…?"  
"Cut the bullcrap!" Lucario said as he quickly pulled his hand away from her and started getting even more angry, "My heart's my own, and I'd never… At least not with someone I've never even seen before!"  
"No, that picture is irrefutable…" Zerobi said with a furious tone in her voice before turning around and facing him, "… Lucario, did you lie to me?"  
"You want me to lie to you!? FINE!" Lucario shouted as he clenched his fists, thoroughly fed up with being treated in this manner, "I'm a blasted wolf on two legs that is being chased by everyone for no good reason, and I like constantly getting into trouble over not knowing [B]&%¤[/B] about anything!"  
"I-I didn't mean…" Zerobi said out loud as she was taken aback by his rage.  
"You saw the master ball! You saw it!" he bellowed while pointing accusingly at her, "I'll recite the bloody periodic table right here right now if you want me to! I'M A MAN, DAMN IT!"  
As if on cue, the door to the house flew open with a bang. Lucario became blinded by the light as several strange entities stormed in, and at the head of them was the lizard he remembered kicking in the head not long before.  
  
"Correction - You're a loud idiot" Snivy said with an almost disappointed tone. Behind him was a slightly greener humanoid Pokémon with flat hands colored in blue and red, as well as one of the Mienfoo from earlier.  
"Snivy!" Zerobi exclaimed in surprise before sighing, "Aw, great…"  
"Yeah, great!" Lucario shouted as he took a furious step towards the new arrivals, "I'm livid, and I'm gonna beat the ever living crap out of everyone here! Zerobi, you with me or what!?"  
"I-I'm with you!" Zerobi quickly responded as she took a step towards him, "The master ball not working was-"  
"NOW!" Snivy interrupted with a shout as he suddenly threw several vines at them. Zerobi swiftly leapt forward and cut them in midair as Lucario ran past them, kicking at Snivy who jumped back through the entrance of the house and made the attack miss. The Mienfoo came up and took a swing at his head from the side, but Lucario didn't even bother dodging it as the aim was slightly off.  
"Damn, you suck! Have a taste of my Aura…" Lucario yelled as a chill ran through his aching hands, recalling his previous attempts at manipulating the aura, "… My Aura Punch!" Lucario backhanded the hairy creature across the face. The moment his fist connected, it blew up into a ball of blue fire. The Mienfoo stumbled around and fell on his back while Lucario crouched over due to the pain emanating from his burning right hand.  
  
"MY FACE! MY FAAAACEEE!" the Mienfoo screamed in agony while writhing on the ground.  
"Watch the Roserade!" Zerobi suddenly yelled, Lucario looking up and seeing the green humanoid creature from earlier right in front of him. Its oddly shaped hands made it look like it was holding a pair of bouquets. It moved towards the weakened Lucario and slapped him across the face with one of its strange hands, making him yell out in pain as he felt his face being pierced by tiny spikes.  
"Duck!" Zerobi shouted before exhaling a great cloud of chilling wind. Lucario hunched over even more as the Roserade was hit by it, and Lucario felt a chill run over his back as the walking flower fell over.  
  
"She's poisoned you!" Zerobi yelled as Lucario began picking off thorns that had somehow gotten stuck on his face, even though they were nothing compared to the aching of his right hand that was still present.  
"Like I give a damn!" Lucario yelled back in rage before sensing an aura approaching him from behind.  
"Cyon, I can't let you do this! I-" Rukario shouted, but couldn't finish as Lucario suddenly spun around and struck her across the face with the back of his left hand. She was struck even harder by the shock that followed as she fell to the ground in a devastating motion.  
"Unless that Cyon was a wifebeater, this should make you understand!" Lucario bellowed in anger, "You mean NOTHING to me! Piss off, or DIE!"  
"Hey… Don't you think you're being too rough?" Zerobi asked as she looked down at the crying Rukario.  
"Hypocrite!" Snivy yelled as he jumped through the entrance once more and landed on his stomach, quickly slithering around the room in a random pattern while leaving a trail of leaves behind him.  
"T-The leaf storm…" Zerobi stammered as she felt a tingling sensation all over her body and she started shouting, "Lucario! We've got to get out of here!"  
"You daft!?" Lucario shouted back as he tried stomping the slippery snake but kept missing, "We're finally winning, and I'm sick of running!"  
"Trust me on this!" Zerobi kept going while she ran towards the exit, "In eight seconds, this room is going to be a portal to hell!" Lucario hesitated for a heartbeat as he thought of how much trouble it had gotten him into so far, but decided to follow Zerobi anyway. She jumped over the collapsed Roserade and writhing Mienfoo, but when Lucario did the same he felt the same piercing sensation from earlier striking the underside of his body as well as his back. It didn't hinder his movement in any way, so he ignored it and kept running.  
  
"Stinkin' idiots… Man, I'm getting hungry…" Lucario said as he began calming down a bit while they were running past building after building, "How about a quick stop at a restaurant?"  
"Look!" Zerobi shouted, signaling him to look forward where he saw that the houses were thinning out, "We're almost outta here!"  
"Then what? We keep running?" Lucario continued, running ahead of Zerobi to get a better view of their destination.  
"Pretty much, but not for…" she replied, but trailed off when she suddenly saw several purple spines sticking out of his back, "… WHOA! When did you get those!?"  
"Get what?" Lucario asked before remembering the piercing sensation, "Oh… Right now, I guess. That flower-sales thing must've hit me on the way out."  
"It's poison!" Zerobi continued with a disgusted look on her face, "Man, you're going to get SO sick from that!"  
"Yeah, whatever…" Lucario responded since he was too concerned with their current situation to worry about the future, "By the way, since I trusted you this time, you owe me your trust in return!"  
"What? Because you followed me?" Zerobi muttered as they ran past a few Pokémon hiding in an alleyway, "Like I care! Hey, you could've stayed in there if you wanted to be chopped into little pieces that much…"  
Zerobi suddenly stopped herself from speaking and slowed down her running. Lucario looked ahead expecting a comeback from another one of the Mienfoo, but instead saw a tiny creature right at the edge of the city. He recognized it as the brown cat that had been walking next to Snivy, before everything came down upon them.  
"What do we do?" Lucario asked Zerobi who just slowed down even more, until she was simply walking towards the small being. She didn't give an answer, her gaze transfixed upon her old friend.  
  
"Z-Zerobi…" the brown cat stammered quietly.  
"Eve…" Zerobi whispered in return with a saddened voice.  
"… I can't…" Eve mumbled before shaking her head and shouting out loud, "I can't let you g-get away!"  
"Please, Eve…" Zerobi continued while feeling as is something had caught a tight grip of her heart, "I know it's hard to believe, but I always treasured our friendship-"  
"Shut up!" Eve shouted angrily in return, "You… You're the most evil thing in this world! I regret ever meeting you!"  
"I…" Zerobi said, the painful feeling in her chest increasing, "… I understand why you would think so… But it's been seven years, and we are both much older and wiser. Forgive… And forget…?"  
"N-No words…" Eve mumbled to herself before suddenly lowering her head and starting to rush towards Zerobi, preparing to tackle her. Eve had barely taken five step forward before Lucario leaped forward, kicking her upwards in the chin so hard that she was thrown up into the air for a few seconds.  
"Hah! What a lame way of attacking!" Lucario laughed while getting ready to hit her on the way down as well. Instead, Zerobi jumped up behind him and banged him hard on the head with her closed fist.  
"OW! Wrong target, damn it!" Lucario growled in pain, clutching his head as the lifeless body of Eve crashed down on the ground in front of them.  
"HEY!" Zerobi screamed with fury, "That's my best friend! Don't you DARE hurt her like that!"  
"She wants you dead!" Lucario shouted back, "If that's your best frien-"  
"Never mind, we don't have time for this" Zerobi interrupted and huffed angrily, "Snivy'll be here any second."  
"Alright…" Lucario sighed in defeat as he approached Eve's body, "So, what do we do? Do we bring her, or-"  
"Leave her!" Zerobi interrupted again as she began fleeing, "Just run!"  
"… Never see it coming…" Lucario mumbled to himself before following Zerobi once more. A few seconds later they had passed the last building of Snowpoint City, and began their escape through the never ending sea of snow…


	10. Travels (Epilogue of Episode II)

After only a few hours of wandering, the snow had completely disappeared from beneath their feet. It had been replaced by grassy plains in the wide open and sandy soil whenever there was a mountain nearby. It was as if they had walked directly into spring, leaving winter behind them.  
  
"This damn climate, it…" Lucario said to himself as he looked around, "It boggles the mind!"  
"Ahh, I'm going to miss the refreshing northern cold" Zerobi said with a longing sigh, "It's much too hot everywhere else…"  
"Hey, you're the one who decided on going south!" Lucario pointed out, "We don't even have a real destination, we can go north if you want to!"  
"… Don't you think we've overstayed our welcome when it comes to those parts?" Zerobi replied, looking behind them and noticing that Snowpoint City was no longer within visible range.  
"Dunno" Lucario mumbled as his stomach growled, "Sure could've gone for a bite somewhere. We could always just, you know, go past it. See what lies further up."  
"That would be a bad idea" Zerobi said, "Mostly because there's nothing up north."  
"… Nothing?" Lucario asked as he looked up with a bewildered face, "How could there possibly be nothing? Isn't the world round?"  
"Alright, correction" Zerobi rectified with another sigh, "There's water, and lots of it. Feel like starving to death on a raft?"  
"Starving to death on the sea, starving to death on land…" Lucario muttered as his stomach growled again, "All the same to me."  
  
"Just eat a couple of berries, already!" Zerobi suddenly shouted, pointing to the backpack he had been carrying around all this time.  
"… I bloody hate those things" Lucario kept muttering and ended with a shudder, "I'd kill to get some real food before I die… And I just might!"  
"If you stop eating, there's no doubt about it" Zerobi snapped back while telling herself to be more reasonable, "You just need to find a taste that you like. Have you tried dry berries before?"  
"Dry is not a taste, damn it!" Lucario yelled much louder than necessary, "Surely Pokémon can eat rice, curry or something you actually cook!"  
"Yeah, I've heard of those before" Zerobi continued in her normal voice, "Do they grow on bushes?"  
"… Uh…" Lucario whispered, thinking it was a trick question, "Even when compared to everything else in this world, I think that would be a bit farfetched…"  
"So is Farfe-" Zerobi said as a reflex before intentionally stopping herself, "I mean, that means you're not getting any. Unless you can find it in nature, you're going to come up empty."  
  
The two of them became quiet for a while, as Lucario ended up in a foul mood and started walking faster. The moment he ended up in front of Zerobi, she noticed that the stingers he had gotten stuck on him during their last battle still remained.  
  
"… And do something about that poison!" Zerobi shouted while pointing at the thorns covering his back, "Man, why do I have to be your caretaker all of a sudden!?"  
"Simple - You're a worrywart" Lucario replied while shrugging, "I'm OK so far. Why would I need any help?"  
"Are you sure?" Zerobi asked as her eyes fixed on his backpack again, "We bought an antidote for just this occasion, after all…"  
"I'm telling you, I feel fine!" Lucario said with a big, forced smile.  
"You're fine now, but you're going to be in big trouble later!" Zerobi pointed out, "At least let me pull the stingers out of your back!"  
"… With those?" Lucario asked while looking at her sharp claws, "No thanks. I don't need more holes in me…"  
"I promise I'll be careful…" Zerobi said quietly while looking down at her body, "Guess what you'll be if I don't pull them out? Dead weight… Followed quickly by simply 'dead'."  
"… Hmm…" Lucario muttered as he looked more carefully at the lethal hands of his partner before shuddering, "Still, I think I'd rather take my chances with the poison."  
"It's not like it's not risky for me either!" Zerobi yelled angrily, "One slip and there'll be blood spraying all over the place!"  
"… OK, let me rephrase that" Lucario said sternly as his face turned white in horror, "You are NEVER, EVER allowed to do any form of medical work on me."  
"Come on! It's the only way I'll ever learn!" Zerobi shouted as she moved closer to him.  
"No! Stay away!" Lucario yelled while shooing her away. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel a bit bad. She was just trying to help him, it's not like it was her fault she had giant knives for hands.  
  
"Hey, I'm sorry" Lucario said while putting a hand on Zerobi's shoulder, making her twitch.  
"About what?" she replied, eyeing his arm carefully to make sure there wasn't any blood on it.  
"I mean, it can't be easy, having claws like that…" he said with a sympathetic voice, looking down at the long and slender blades sticking out of her limbs.  
"You kidding?" she responded as she tried to put the whole thing in a positive light, "Do you know how many times they've saved me in battle? Sure beats just having normal hands, like you…"  
"… You're right!" Lucario blurted out, suddenly feeling a pang of jealousy when he imagined how easy his battles up until now would have been if he claws like that, "But I guess I could just use a couple of swords or something."  
"Sworn'd?" Zerobi asked in a confused tone, "Wait… You have a few allies, after all?"  
"Huh? No, I said 'sword'" Lucario tried to correct her, "You know… A long weapon…"  
"Oh. Well, you can't expect me to know the name of every move, can you?" Zerobi snickered while waving her hand around, "Which kind of Pokémon uses it?"  
"Actually, it's a weapon for humans" Lucario said, still dreaming about how he'd be cutting off limbs left and right if his nails had been a bit sharper.  
"A weapon… For humans?" Zerobi asked questioningly, "Why would humans need weapons?"  
"… Eh!?" Lucario exclaimed in surprise as a thought suddenly hit him, "That reminds me, why didn't the police just grab a couple of guns and shoot us if they wanted us both dead?"  
"Gun…" Zerobi whispered to herself while crossing her arms, "… Projectiles? I think that Kojofu used one of those, but you dodged it."  
"Wait, wait, wait…" Lucario said slowly and held out his arms in a stopping motion, "You mean to tell me there are no weapons in this world? You know, that humans use?"  
"… Why would they need that? They can catch and train Pokémon just fine!" Zerobi explained while desperately trying to understand what her partner was talking about, "Sure, some fight and stuff… But I've never heard of a human actually defeating a Pokémon."  
"… Hmm… Yeah, I see your point" Lucario mumbled before scratching his head, "In a world of monsters, I doubt bullets would be good against anything weaker than a bear."  
  
As the wandered, they came across a small waterhole in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Lucario remembered something about water in nature sometimes being poisonous, to which Zerobi pointed out that he was already poisoned and started drinking. After making sure that she hadn't gone blind after a few moments, Lucario started drinking as well.  
  
"Those two back there really hated you" Lucario said as he wiped some of the water away from the sides of his mouth, "What happened to make them want you dead?"  
"I… Really don't want to talk about it…" Zerobi said, Lucario noticing the emptiness from earlier making itself apparent in her eyes and voice, "What's done is done."  
"That's… Surprisingly content" Lucario said, not wanting to make her depressed yet still not willing to drop the subject, "I saw you have a complete breakdown not that long ago."  
"I've already spent several years worrying that someone deceived me and feeling sorrowful over past sins" Zerobi sighed deeply, "Living a life like that… I think I'd rather be dead."  
  
The two of them finished up by the waterhole and decided to keep moving. Zerobi looked at the digital map they had bought, checking the built in compass to make sure that they were on the right track.  
  
"By the way, how did they even find us?" Lucario asked as Zerobi opened up the backpack he was carrying and put the map back, "You said something about 'detectors'…"  
"Oh yeah…" Zerobi responded in an attempt to shake away her depression, "They somehow sense the presence of strong Pokémon."  
"… What? That's kind of like what I can do with the aura!" Lucario said, recalling his newfound ability to sense creatures near him, "Wait… That means we were the only powerful Pokémon in town?"  
"Uh, I guess…" Zerobi said quickly before lowering her pace slightly, "I'm a Dark-type, so psychic types can't sense me. I don't think the detectors can either. Must've been you."  
"Well, I AM pretty strong…" Lucario smiled, unintentionally flexing the muscles on his upper body.  
"That's what got us into this mess…" Zerobi muttered, "I thought you were weak, so I never expected those things to notice us."  
"… Took 'em a while though, didn't it?" Lucario chimed in, remembering how much time he spent in the store persuading Zerobi to buy actual food instead of a bunch of occult magazines.  
"They're honestly not that reliable" Zero continued explaining, "They malfunction all the time, and take forever to lock on a target."  
"Good news for us, then" Lucario laughed before noticing that true to her words, he had been unable to sense her presence with the aura up until, "I mean, me. Just me. Anyway, what are they? Machines?"  
"I have no idea" Zerobi answered while shaking her head a little, "Every city got one after that whole thing with Deoxys…"  
  
"… Dexo-sys?" Lucario asked, the word feeling very unfamiliar to him, "Some kind of viral outbreak?"  
"… Wait, you don't know about that either!?" Zerobi suddenly shouted in surprise, "I've literally been living in a cave for the past seven years, and even I know about it!"  
"Bah, that's nothing!" Lucario replied with an annoyed tone, "You just got surprised over me not knowing anything! What is this, the eighteenth time that's happened?"  
"Still, to now know anything about that…" Zerobi mumbled in disbelief before crossing her arms, "I mean, I don't know too many details myself, but supposedly the entire world was coming to an end." Lucario looked at her strangely, getting somewhat tired of having to take in so much new information all the time.  
"A creature called 'Deoxys' appeared out of nowhere and ran around, killing everything in its path" Zerobi explained bluntly without batting an eye, "Calling it 'strong' would be the understatement of the century. From what I heard, the combined forces of entire cities could not even touch it."  
"… From what you heard?" Lucairo asked, "Sounds like a massive exaggeration to me."  
"Well, information about Deoxys was not so strangely limited, seeing how everything within a mile's radius of it died" Zero answered as she continued explaining, "The occasional camera was all that 'survived'. At any rate, it was unstoppable. Cities from every continent were reduced to rubble as it wandered the earth, and every challenger was instantly killed. Everyone lived each day in fear of dying… It was pretty much judgment day."  
  
"… Man! I sure am glad I wasn't around here for that!" Lucario blurted out in a worried tone, "Wait… What happened? How'd it stop?"  
"Hmm… Uh, I'm not sure" Zerobi said with a shrug, "I think someone killed it. A legendary, probably."  
"S-Someone killed it!?" Lucario stammered as he almost tripped after stepping in a small hole in the ground, "Someone killed a creature so powerful that it was bringing about the apocalypse!?"  
"It's always like that" Zerobi said slowly as she peeked up in the sky with a dreamy look, "A single hero stands up to the evil monster and defeats it…"  
"… Bullshit!" Lucario suddenly exclaimed, "More like the army sends eighty guys with machineguns and blows it to bits! I mean, there aren't any weapons here… But still…"  
"There are like fifteen articles about it in every Occult Magazine released after the incident…" Zerobi muttered in annoyance, "… In other words, your answers lie in that bandage."  
  
Lucario looked at her with a confused face. Zerobi then pointed to his right shoulder, where he had tied up the remains of one of the magazines charred by Raikou to cover up a wound created by Suicune. He lightly tapped it a little in hopes that it could still be read, but gave up within seconds.  
  
"Ugh… It's all torn up… Burnt… And drenched in dried up blood!" Lucario mumbled with a disgusted voice.  
"Not to mention MY magazine… You jerkoff!" Zerobi growled angrily, "Maybe that'll teach you not to ruin my possessions!"  
"… Like that's my fault!" Lucario snapped back, "Still quite absorbing for a magazine… I mean, absorbent!"  
  
They continued talking, bickering and laughing until nightfall, during which Lucario pulled out two sleeping bags from the backpack. They had been searching for a cave to rest in, but the plains they were in the middle of seemed to go on forever, and in the end they had to settle for an open sky and grassy floor.  
  
"Hey, maybe we should have tried these out before buying them?" Lucario mentioned as he sat down next to the fairly bland and unimaginative bed.  
"… It's a sleeping bag" Zerobi responded bluntly, "They'd have to actually be trying to screw it up."  
"Only one way to find out…" Lucario told himself while carefully opening it up and moving inside of it. He made it all the way in and felt the soft insides caressing his body, making him sigh in relief as he slowly leaned back.  
  
"YIKES AND GAZOOT!" Lucario screamed as he flew out of his bag, making Zerobi look at him with a curious face.  
"Damn it, my back…!" he whined and turned around, making her catch a glimpse of the poison thorns from earlier, still stuck in him.  
"Told ya" she said smugly as she got up and walked over to him, "You ready for an extraction?"  
"… Don't kid around, It's much too dark for that!" he groaned while futilely trying to locate and pull out the stingers himself, "I'd like to spend the night in a sleeping bag, not a body bag…"  
"I can see fine in the darkness" Zerobi said quietly.  
"I said no! This is insane!" Lucario responded loudly, "Gouging them out is not going to help at all!"  
"Actually, I was planning on using my claws as pincers…" Zerobi said as she held up her claws in front of her.  
"Pincers…" Lucario whispered to himself as a faint memory resurfaced. He was looking at his finger, doing his best to claw out the painful splinter lodged within. Suddenly, a pair of sharp objects appear above the wound. He tries to twist his hand away, but something is preventing him! In an instant, the pain flares up before vanishing altogether, a tiny object caught between the two…  
  
"… Alright" Lucario muttered as he laid down on the sleeping bag on his stomach, "I'm placing my back in your hands… Literally."  
"About time!" Zerobi replied cheerfully, leaping up and crashing down on Lucario's pants, making him jump slightly in terror.  
"Are you crazy!? Don't just sit down on them!" Lucario yelled, trying to look at the creature both above and behind him.  
"They're on your back, not backside…" Zerobi muttered before quickly looking at her current seat and shuddering a bit, "… I hope…"  
  
Looking down at his back, she noticed that several spikes were sticking out among the large hairs growing out of his torso. Zerobi used her hands to lightly brush aside some of the hair on the back, just to make sure where the fur stopped and hair began. Instead she was met by a sight far more horrifying than she had expected.  
  
"… Scars… " Zerobi whispered as she stared at the misshapen body beneath her. Even though no hair was growing out of these parts, the large gashes across his back had been all but invisible until now, hidden under the yellow fur.  
"… What!?" Lucario shouted, oblivious to what she was referring to, "Those thorns were lodged in that deep!?" The scars were closed now, but she was certain that no one could just forget wounds that massive. Simply looking at them brought her back some unpleasant memories from her time in Cerulean City.  
"No, I mean… I'm not a doctor, but these look old" Zerobi mumbled as she winced, "… Man, they look painful, too…!"  
"You mean to tell me you're NOT a doctor?" Lucario chipped sarcastically, "You… At least you've done something like this before, right?"  
"As if! One little slip and blood'll…" she said before stopping herself, "… I mean, just don't move around too much."  
"Uh, you know, maybe I could just sleep on my stomach…" Lucario whispered frightfully, "… Actually, that's a great idea! Let's do that!"  
"Are you sure about that?" Zerobi asked with an unusually calm tone, "I've already extracted six of them."  
"… Really?" Lucario replied hopefully as relief washed over him, "Whoa! I didn't feel a thing! You're good at this!"  
"Yeah, I know…" Zerobi snickered, "I'm lying." Instantly she grabbed the first of the thorns and pulled it out, making Lucario yelp in surprise.  
"ARGH!" Lucario shouted as he once again tried to turn around and look at her, "Damn you! That's SO not cool!"  
"What?" Zerobi asked with a sinister smile, "Is it too much for the little crybaby?"  
"… Just get it over with" Lucario mumbled. The pain of having it pulled out had been bad, but nothing compared to his battles against Suicune, Raikou or the aura that lay dormant within him.  
  
As he lay there, he realized that so far trying to use the aura had ended up in a catastrophe each time. He knew that if he wanted to learn how to use it, he would have to try something different. The female Lucario from earlier popped into his mind and he thought about asking her for pointers, though a more pressing matter suddenly came upon him…  
  
"… You still believe me, right?" Lucario asked after a while, "That I'm human and that Rukario wasn't my wife?"  
"Well, the way you treat women I doubt you could ever land a sh…" Zerobi started before suddenly converting her snide remark into an explanation, "… That was a shiny Lucario back there, you know."  
"Oh… Uh…" Lucario mumbled as while closing his eyes, "If you compared her to what she looked like in that picture, she was actually a bit meager."  
"Shiny is a term used to describe Pokémon with different colors than what's usual" Zerobi explained, mentally telling herself to do that right away the next time so that she wouldn't have to listen to his nonsensical replies.  
"Oh…" Lucario mumbled again, "So it's like racism?"  
"Ra… Huh?" Zerobi asked with a confused tone, before remembering her earlier plans, "Anyway, they're extremely rare and constantly sought after by trainers. The fact that she even showed herself… Well, let's just say she's going to be heckled unless she quickly hides again."  
"… So IT IS like racism!" Lucario continued as a particularly painful thorn was pulled out in the middle of the sentence, "She and that Cyon were some kind of inter-racial couple, then?"  
"Now I don't have a clue what you're talking about" Zerobi groaned, "Just… Forget about it. Also, I'm done."  
"… Oh?" Lucario mumbled for a third time, "… Why aren't you getting off me, then?"  
"… Alright, you got me" Zerobi said with a mischievous smile as she pulled out the final prick, making Lucario twitch, "NOW it's done!"  
"DAMN YOU!" Lucario shouted in fury, "Why you gotta do that!?"  
"Because you were so stubborn, and wouldn't let me help you unless I practically begged" Zerobi said with annoyance as she lectured him, "Don't be such a hardass, or there'll be hell to pay in the future."  
"Fine… I don't know what you're expecting, but you've made your point" Lucario replied as he wiggled around a bit while trying to get up, "Speaking of ass, would you mind separating yours from mine?"  
"I don't know, I kind of like it here" Zerobi snickered as she leaned back and tried getting comfortable, "You wanna sleep together?"  
"… Great, I get the spikes replaced with a Siamese twin…" Lucario muttered to himself before slowly rising up, making Zerobi fall off him. She landed on her back as Lucario walked over to his sleeping bag and picked it up.  
  
"… But really, you seemed reluctant back there" Zerobi said as she got up and walked back to her own sleeping bag, "She was so kind! What kind of girl do you like, anyway?"  
"Human" Lucario said bluntly as he uncurled the sleeping bag, and in a quick, fluent motion slipped into it. He sighed of relief as his back hit the soft underside of it. Even though it still hurt, it was nothing compared to earlier.  
"Hmm… Figures" Zerobi replied as she also decided to lie down, lying down on top of her own sleeping bag.  
"You aren't going to crawl into it?" Lucario asked while turning his head in her direction, "It feels damn good, you know!"  
"That will be much too hot for someone like me" "I tried telling you this, but you just HAD to buy two sleeping bags…"  
"Weirdo…" Lucario mumbled as he leaned his head back on the pillow and looked up at the heavens. It was fairly cloudy, but nothing that could completely cover up the infinite blackness of the sky that peered at them.  
  
"… Pokémon don't get married, you know" Zerobi suddenly whispered.  
"… Huh? Where'd that come from?" Lucario asked in a whispering tone as well.  
"She said she was your wife" Zerobi said, "I've never heard a Pokémon call themselves that. It's strictly a human thing."  
"And me knowing this is going to save our lives in the near future… How?" Lucario asked while sitting up and looking over at Zerobi, who was busy staring up into the sky.  
"Hey, I'm trying to solve the mystery here!" Zerobi replied with a short snicker, "Help out a little, will ya?"  
"There's no mystery" Lucario sighed as he lay down on his back again, "Listen, the last thing I want is psychotherapy that'll convince me that I'm a stinkin' Pokémon. Show me a way to turn back, or forget about it."  
  
"Even so…" Zerobi said slowly, "You've yet to tell me anything of what it's like being human…"  
"We've been kind of buys not dying, remember?" Lucario chuckled, "I'll tell you now. What do you want to know?"  
"Well…" Zerobi mumbled as she thought, "Anything, I guess. You're the only creature that has been both human and Pokémon, what's different?"  
"I eat berries for sustenance" Lucario responded bluntly, "And I'm talking to something not human."  
"… That's it?" Zerobi asked with disappointment in her voice.  
"I'm still human within, so mentally I was never a Pokémon" Lucario said.  
"Come on!" Zerobi exclaimed loudly, "You've met with Pokémon and talked to them! There must be something!"  
"There is, but… How do I explain…" Lucario sighed as he thought very hard of a way to explain what was on his mind, "… Like… What do you see when you look up at the sky right now?"  
"… Clouds…" Zerobi mumbled an answer, "The moon… Stars…"  
"Heh…" Lucario smiled, "All I see are gigantic rocks and balls of fire, swirling around in a great big void."  
"… Huh?" Zerobi exclaimed, not understanding him at all.  
"See it like this - We are both less than a dot on a speck of a planet in a tiny little solar system in the edges of a galaxy, that there are millions of" Lucario explained in a depressing tone before lightening up, "But we're not worthless! Every time we close our eyes in a blink, we give birth to new life in the form of cells, only to kill them off the moment our eyes open."  
"… Whoa…" Zerobi whispered to herself, "Deep."  
"That means that depending on our perspective, we are both an almighty god..." Lucario continued, "… And barely even nothingness."  
  
"So that's how a human thinks, eh?" Zerobi said quietly, somewhat disappointed in his answer, "Alright, something less… Existential… What did you look like as a human?"  
"This is going to sound weird coming from a canine" Lucario chuckled, "But I was actually pretty ugly."  
"That's… An unexpected answer" Zerobi replied, again feeling disappointed, "Feel free to lie, it's not like I can prove you wrong."  
"Nah, that's just the way things were" Lucario kept going, "Constant fighting does that to you."  
"Huh… Funny to think that someone so handsome was once…" Zerobi started but suddenly trailed off after realizing what she had just said, "… Uh, human!"  
"Handsome?" Lucario said with an uninterested tone, "I can't tell… And I really don't care, either."  
"You don't care?" Zerobi asked with surprise in her voice, "… Really? Not even a little?"  
"I'm a freak, either way" Lucario mumbled and wished he could shrug more naturally when lying down, "To any human, at least… I don't think I'd be real popular as the dog-man with no job, money or viable future."  
  
"Alright…" Zerobi mumbled as she was getting tired of all the boring answers, "I'm done. Goodnight."  
"Aw, come on! Ask me something more!" Lucario said excitedly.  
"… We'll have plenty of time tomorrow…" Zerobi yawned while closing her eyes.  
"Talking like this is fun!" Lucario exclaimed, "What, you're immune to fun?"  
"Go ahead. Talk to yourself" Zerobi muttered as she turned around, facing him with her back.  
"… Fine" Lucario said as he closed his eyes as well, "Just know that out of all the odd things I've met since I got here… You're the best."  
  
Zerobi felt a bit insulted at being called an 'odd thing', but nevertheless fell asleep not long after that. Lucario's head was still spinning with all the new information it had taken in, and his blood was rushing from the battles earlier in the day. All of it finally collided in him, as exhaustion kicked in and he was instantly overtaken by sleep…


	11. Prehistoric Tomboy Kabuta

It took the duo several days of travel before they came across a forest. This made Zerobi elated as she referred to their surroundings as a "buffet", Lucario secretly hoping she was talking about game and not berries. He also started missing his trusted pair of shoes as many sharp pinecone-like things were strewn over the road, forcing him to constantly look down and avoid them with his every step. At any rate, they both felt that it made for some nice variety, something they had not experienced in quite a long while…  
  
"Alright, here's one…" Zerobi said, before putting extra effort into her pronunciation, "Adrift upon the barren plateaus, I wander endlessly… Protecting none but myself… And fighting no one but the wind."  
"… That's poetry?" Lucario asked with a cocky tone, "I don't see any 'barren plateaus'… Besides, it didn't rhyme or anything."  
"It's not supposed to!" Zerobi explained with exclamation, "Poetry can be anything!"  
"… So, while we're on the subject of 'lame', why not tell me another riveting tale from that kooky magazine of yours?" Lucario snapped back, looking to his side with a bored face.  
"There was this one story about a Lucario that didn't shut up" Zerobi replied with an underlying growl, "It's rated M for extreme violence. I'm not seeing you coming up with a better idea on how to pass the time!"  
  
The two of them became quiet, both very tired of each other. Not having had anyone else to talk to for the past week had gotten them in foul moods and at each other's throats. Realizing whose throat would be the one to experience one of Zerobi's claws, Lucario decided that it was time to parlay.   
  
"You know… Not fighting for your life every day kind of takes the edge of things" Lucario said, not knowing whether to sigh or snicker at their predicament.  
"No kidding?" Zerobi responded sarcastically, "Do you think they've given up?"  
"They were relentless right up until we left Snowpoint" Lucario mumbled while his shoulder hurt and back stung a bit as a quick reminder, "I would've bet the farm on us getting attacked since then."  
"Don't forget that we're in the middle of nowhere, the odds of them finding us…" Zerobi explained, before silencing herself after realizing a fallacy, "Then again, they DID find my hideout rather easily…"  
"I mean, I have been able to 'sense' life as of late, through walls and everything…" Lucario said as he made a short leap on to a large rock on the road instead of walking around it, "But, you know, it's got pretty short range. Plus, I can't sense you."  
"That's because I'm a Dark-type" Zerobi said as she calmly walked around the huge stone, "That aura thing, or whatever they call it? We don't have that."  
  
"You keep talking about types" Lucario said while jumping down from the rock, landing securely on both his feet, "… I don't really know what that is."  
"That's… Going to be a problem" Zerobi said while thinking to herself, "It's pretty much the ABC of Pokémon. You'll need to know them if you want to stay alive, and there'll be a lot to learn"  
"Yay…" Lucario exclaimed sarcastically, "Well, I DO plan on stayin' alive… So, better get started, eh?"  
"Hmm... The question is where…" Zerobi mumbled as she quickly looked over Lucario body, "I guess… In your case, your major weakness would be to fire."  
"… Weak against fire?" Lucario asked before giving off a snicker, "Who isn't? Wait, you mean there are Pokémon out there that breathe fire!?"  
"Breathe… Kick…" Zerobi started counting up her previous experiences, "… Punch. Basically, if it can be done, it can be done with fire."  
"That makes no sense!" Lucario shouted in surprise yet also with a hint of admiration, "I mean, it's cool as all hell, but how's that even physically possible!?"  
"You'll have to ask one of them, but I think they have a flame sac somewhere in them that creates something flammable…" Zerobi answered while remembering her days in school, "… And they use their claws and teeth or whatever to ignite it."  
"Great, now I can probably pass biology and science with straight A's…" Lucario groaned before putting on a strange impersonation with his voice, "See, professor, that's why drinking oil is actually good for you!"  
  
"Grr! I've had it up to here with all your nonsense!" Zerobi suddenly growled as she pointed accusingly to her partner, "Alright! I'm pressing you on this! Tell me! What's this 'oil' you just mentioned?"  
"Flammable substance" Lucario responded quickly, "Actually, it's more like a bunch of dead plants and animals condensed into a black sludge."  
"It's… It's WHAT!?" Zerobi exclaimed with a startled voice.  
"Full of energy too, we use it to operate machinery" Lucario kept going, deriving pleasure from finally being the one surprising Zerobi with information.  
"You…" Zerobi stammered as she tried to grasp what he had just said, "… You use corpses to operate machinery!?"  
"No, no, no…" Lucario repeated in a calming tone, "They're several million years old, and have been put into so much pressure that they've turned into a… Well, a black sludge."  
"… That's sickening!" Zerobi burst out in disgust, "I think it's sickening! Do you have ANY idea what it would take for ME to be sickened by something!?"  
  
As if on cue, three very strange figures appeared from behind a hill further ahead. They were chatting both loudly and happily. The first figure was short as well as brightly yellow, a Pokémon Zerobi recognized as a Pikachu. Lucario was still torn between calling it a rat, mouse or possum. The second figure was tall and extremely slender, even more so than Zerobi. It was a Gallade, and a shiver ran through Zerobi as she remembered what she had to do the last time she met one of those. To Lucario, it was the only one of them that appeared to be somewhat human in shape.  
However, the third creature was the one that both their eyes fixated on, trying to make sense out of. It was walking forward on two legs with a brown, rocky shell covering its body and face, and had two giant scythes sticking out of its body. It also appeared to have a special sort of white protection on its torso, shaped like abdominal muscles but clearly not.  
  
"Whatever it is, it's not far from us now…" Lucario mumbled with disdain as the second party came nearer and they were able to listen in on their conversation.  
"It's not fair!" the rocky creature said with a surprisingly soft and high pitched voice, "So if I kill him, it's bad, but if you do it, it's good!?"  
"We're not planning on killing anyone!" the Gallade spoke with yet another surprisingly girly voice, "Just giving you a heads-up that if it's really really REALLY necessary…"  
"So what!? We just kick the living hell out of his Pokémon and then let this idiot off the hook?" the brown one responded angrily, "He'll be back!"  
"Pfft, don't be so sure about that…" the tiny yellow thing huffed with a deep voice, "Remember the story about the Dragonite? Sometimes, all it takes to break the mightiest warrior is a single loss."  
"That's crazy!" the one with the scythes snapped back, "He totally screwed over pops and bro, I'm gonna beat him good!"  
"You're gonna be sent straight home if you don't act more maturely!" the Pikachu yelled in a much more menacing tone than before, "And stop cursing, damn it!"  
"Who gives a crap if I curse or not?" the walking rock huffed, "'Act more ladylike'… If you've got time to worry 'bout that… There's got to be more important things to worry about!"  
"More important than keeping Kabutops calm and pleasant? Hell no!" the Pikachu burst out while keeping the earlier tone, "He says it's my fault, because you hung around with me so much!"  
  
"Well, to be fair… That's totally what it is" the Gallade chimed in with a large smile, "You know, if I ever have a daughter… Yeah, she's never even meeting you. I might have one right now that you don't know anything about!"  
"… You probably have several that YOU know nothing about!" the yellow one responded, making the brown one burst out in laughter.  
"AHAHAHA!" the one with the scythes roared while raising one of its oddly shaped arms at the white one, "Burned you good, uncle sissy!"  
"HEY! I was there for your birth!" the white one shouted with annoyance, "Show some respect, will ya!?"  
"No, you weren't" the small mouse said bluntly, "You got smashed and passed out in a hotel room."  
"H-HEY! I… I was celebrating, you know!" the thin humanoid stammered as the brown one laughed even harder, "Damn it, why'd you have to tell her that!? You really are a meanie!"  
"Honestly, I'd never seen Kabutops so happy. I asked him whether it was Kabuta's birth or the fact that you weren't there, and he just went…" the small creature said as he suddenly made his voice monotonic and started speaking slower, "… 'What do you think'…?"  
"Whatever. We're tight, he just likes to act like we aren't, for some reason…" the slender, white Pokémon said calmly as they finally were right in front of Lucario and Zerobi. For a split second, a true legend stood face to face with a human transformed into a Pokémon, accompanied by the founder of the cult known as evolution's gate. A spark of undetectable tension formed in a triangle between these three, as if three parts of something much bigger had been united at long last.  
  
The two teams shot each member a quick glance, but kept walking and finally moved past each other.  
  
"Man, what the hell was that?" Lucario whispered curiously to Zerobi as soon as the others were a couple of feet behind them.  
"Good practice… Hopefully" Zerobi whispered back, "Tell me, what types did you think those Pokémon were?"  
"… Not my type, that's for sure!" Lucario laughed while keeping his voice down to a whisper, "A fat rat, a walking vector and a mouthless, faceless, charmless rock. With legs… I think. Might've been stalagmites for all I know…"  
"Lucario…" Zerobi mumbled.  
"I mean, what the hell was that!?" Lucario continued laughing, "The green thing looks like it was out skiing on its hands and fell into 'the pit of unfitting triangles', where it must've had quite a few of them lodged into it!"  
"… They can still hear you" Zerobi muttered bitterly.  
  
Lucario's smile faded quickly as he turned around and saw that the three peculiar Pokémon had stopped and become quiet. The ears of the yellow rat twitched back and forth.  
"What, did I, like… Offend them or something?" Lucario asked innocently, analyzing his previous statement.  
"… Stalagmites!?" Kabuta growled brashly as she turned around with an angry shout, "You piece of crap!"  
"These 'triangles' are a piece of ART, you f… Fu…" the Gallade stammered while also turning around, but started trailing off as he saw the foul-mouthed Kabutops in front of him, "… Jerk!"  
"… Fat, eh?" Pikablu said with previously unsurpassed annoyance, refusing to even make the slightest move, "Yeah, I guess… Never mind that I've fought and trained every day of my life, asswipe."  
"Ooh, scary" Lucario mocked boastfully, never having been one to back down, "I'll have you know, I'm an outlaw. Chased by the police and all. Now, beat it before I do something outlaw-ish to you all!"  
"… Right" Pikablu muttered, finally turning around with a bitter stare on his face, "Alright, who wants to beat him up first?"  
"Me! Me!" Kabuta yelled quickly with a short jump, "It'll be great warm up!"  
"No killing!" the Gallade yelled back with a worried tone, "Like, I want him dead too, but just-"  
"I'm not gonna kill him, I'm just gonna emasculate him!" Kabuta interrupted before taking a few steps away from her companions, towards Lucario.  
  
"Ugh, look what you got us into now…" Zerobi groaned, slowly backing away from Lucario.  
"Uh, listen, guys…" Lucario said as his rationality suddenly returned from its long vacation, "I'm sorry for what I said. No need to get violent."  
"Hahaha! What a coward!" Kabuta laughed while obviously trying to make her voice sound gruffer, "No wonder he's wearing pants, he probably hasn't got anything down there!" Both Pikablu and the Gallade looked down shamefully.  
"You know, if Kabutops WAS here, he'd be killing you right about now" the Gallade mumbled to Pikablu.  
"I don't know where the hell things went wrong with this kid…" Pikablu responded, not being able to help feeling a slight twinge of fatherhood with Kabuta's every curse word.  
  
"Cool voice, sis" Lucario said to her, striking a battle pose while once again giving up on settling things peacefully, "Even I wouldn't mistake that for manly."  
"You two, just sit back and watch!" Kabuta said while giving a gesture to her partners, "I'm about to teach this lame-o a lesson or two about lame-oville!"  
"POPULATION: YOU!" Kabuta yelled as she dashed towards Lucario, giant scythes held out in an attacking stance. Even though he had trouble telling what was up and down on the odd creature, Lucario leaped forward and pressed down on where all the shouting was coming from, assuming it was her head. Her advance was immediately halted as she almost tripped forward, and suddenly she felt a heavy weight fall down on her back as Lucario made a small hop above her and sat down on her. She was about to throw her scythe-like arms above her when suddenly the Lucario's legs came down upon those as well, effectively trapping her underneath him.  
  
"Welcome to lame-oville!" Lucario said as he could no longer contain himself from laugher, "Please, enjoy your stay!"  
"LEMME GO, YOU PIECE OF CRAP!" Kabuta screamed, wriggling helplessly on the ground like an earthworm.  
"Huh…" the Gallade said as he put his elongated arms behind his head, "I honestly didn't see that one coming."  
"Like hell you didn't…" Pikablu mumbled angrily before yelling loudly, "Hey! Lucario! You've got exactly five seconds to unhand my niece… Or bad things WILL go down!"  
"No deal!" Lucario replied confidently as the Kabutops struggled beneath him, "Best massage chair I've ever had."  
"ARGH!" Kabuta roared with indignation, never ceasing to try to break free.  
"It doesn't have a 'mute' button, does it…?" Lucario mumbled to himself before taking a closer look at the scythes he had pinned under his feet. He became noticeable colder as he saw just how sharp they were, realizing that if he hadn't stomped down on their flat sides his feet probably would've split in two.  
"Hey Zerobi, these hands kind of remind me of yours!" he shouted back to the Weavile behind him, who had once again gotten impressed over how the competent fighter before her and the guy she had jerked around with all week was one and the same Pokémon.  
  
"… Zerobi?" Pikablu said to himself, the name sounding somewhat familiar. Something from long ago, yet still something that had always been with him… And most definitively something he had not expected to hear.  
"C'mon! Help me out here!" Kabuta yelled from her pathetic position, obviously not in a pleasant state of mind.  
"Stay back, Pikablu" the Gallade suddenly said with a serious tone as he took a determined step forward, "This one's mine."  
"Wait, don't-" Pikablu started as something about the situation rubbed him the wrong way, but was interrupted by the Gallade raising one of his arms.  
"No, I've had it with being called a sissy all the time!" he said angrily, "From Kabutops I can take it, but his bloody daughter!? It's time for 'uncle sissy' to show you what he's really made out of!"  
"No, I mean…" Pikablu tried to continue, but too disoriented to continue. He couldn't tell whether it was his niece's panicked shouts, or the puzzling name that had been uttered earlier.  
"Don't even try it, you've sucked up the glory long enough!" the Gallade shouted, interrupting him once again, "Finally, it's my turn! I'll beat him up, rescue the little girl and do a victory dance of epic proportions!"  
"… Stop acting like you're saving the world, showoff!" Pikablu shouted back, losing track of his train of thoughts.  
"YOU GONNA HELP ME OR WHAT!?" Kabuta screamed with a couple of violent twists against Lucario, who almost fell off her.  
"Just lie down and relax…" the Gallade whispered as a subtle smile formed on his face. Without any hesitation, he walked up to Lucario who had a bored expression on his face and Kabuta who at long last looked up to him.  
  
"Remember the show you're about to see" he said with a wave of his left arm, "It will be… Beautiful!"


	12. Beautiful Dancer Gallade

"So, you're finally going to fight?" Pikablu asked. For as long as he had known the Gallade, he had avoided battles whenever possible.  
"Yep" the Gallade answered, taking a few steps to his right.  
"… You? Volunteering to fight?" Pikablu asked again, shocked at what he was hearing.  
"Yeah, I just gotta… Hmm…" the Gallade mumbled as he circled Kabuta's defeated form on the ground, his eyes never leaving Lucario.  
"You know they're over there, right?" Pikablu said mockingly, confused over the Gallade's sidestepping.  
  
"… Perfect!" the Gallade suddenly exclaimed, instantly crouching over and placing a strange rectangular object on the ground. He angled it so that it was facing Lucario, who tensed up and got ready to jump out of the way in case it launched an attack at him.  
"Wait…" Pikablu muttered as he finally realized what the strange object was, "What the hell… You're actually going to film this!?"  
"Hey, my fans are going to wonder what I've been up to all this time…" the Gallade replied smugly while standing up and shrugging, "Besides, I don't have anything else to update the blog with. This'll be new."  
Lucario immediately decided that this Gallade was the least intimidating Pokémon he had met so far, ending up somewhere beneath the Piplup, the Eevee and the purple ball with legs.  
"Yo, is this guy for real!?" Lucario yelled at Pikablu who put a paw to his face in shame. For an instant, he wished the Lucario the best of luck in the approaching battle.  
"If we make it into a movie, I'll make sure to cut you two in on it!" the Gallade said cheerfully before pointing at Lucario, "In your case, you'll need it to pay your hospital bill!"  
"You goddamn…" Pikablu groaned to himself and looked at the frozen expression on Kabuta's face, "… What happened to saving Kabuta?"  
"I'm doing better than that!" the Gallade said, "I'm saving her, AND making her famous at the same time!"  
"FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Kabuta roared angrily from underneath Lucario, "STOP DICKING AROUND!"  
"… That's an M rating, right there…" the Gallade mumbled to himself disappointedly, "Oh well, maybe I'll ask the gals to edit it out… Add some music… Effects…"  
"… There's no way he's for real, right?" Lucario asked Kabuta, but she was too filled with rage to pay him any notice.  
"Lucario!" the Gallade suddenly shouted, pointing accusingly at him, "Even though you are of the wilderness, let us have a gentleman's duel! Let go of your hostage!"  
"Hostage…?" Lucario repeated slowly as the Kabutops he was lying on top of calmed down a bit, "Sure... But cut me on the way up, and you'll regret it." Lucario quickly realized that she every intention of doing so as she started struggling again, and spent no time dawdling as he leaped off Kabuta's back, landing a few feet behind her. She instantly sprung up to her feet, shaking from indignation.  
  
Sensing a killing intent unlike anything before, Lucario decided to try to cool her down.  
"Oh…" Lucario said as the rocky beast turned around and faced him with an angry glare, "Sorry 'bout the stalagmites thing. Up close, you're actually pretty cool."  
"YOU B…!" Kabuta started, but stopped herself as she realized what he had just said, "Uh… What?"  
"Well… At least compared to that guy" Lucario continued with a snicker, nodding his head towards the Gallade.  
"Step back, Kabuta!" the Gallade yelled triumphantly with the most heroic stance he could muster, "Leave this scoundrel to me!"  
Kabuta looked back at the Gallade, before looking at Lucario again. For some reason, she found herself speechless.  
"Come on, let 'em do what they want…" Pikablu suddenly said, making her vision snap back to him.  
"… Y-Yeah…" she stammered before heading back to Pikablu, who was taken by surprise with her odd behavior.  
"Psst! Take care of the camera if it tips over!" the Gallade whispered happily as Kabuta ran past him.  
"Let me save you the effort" Lucario said loudly to the Gallade with a crack of his neck, "Unless the title 'My apocalyptic beatdown at the hands of a Lucario' sounds good to you, this recording isn't going to do you much!"  
  
Zerobi, Pikablu and Kabuta stepped back as a battle seemed inevitable. The two fighters stared angrily at each other, both wearing sinister smiles on their faces.  
  
"Heh… To be frank, this battle has already been decided" the Gallade said confidently, "I have the ability to measure a Pokémon's strength, and… Well, yours is not enough to defeat me."  
"Oh really?" Lucario asked mockingly, "I can sense your aura, and I'd say we're about even. Nice bluff, though."  
"No, what I mean is…" the Gallade explained before taking on a surprised face, "… Wait, you can measure strength, too? Anyway, what I mean is that even if our power is the same, you cannot measure skill."  
"… Which gives me the edge, wouldn't you say?" Lucario kept going, striking a fighting pose as he felt like the battle could start at any moment.  
"Heheh… Underestimating me? Aren't you a confident one?" the Gallade snickered as his oddly shaped arms suddenly started glowing with a white aura, "Worry not, I am a purveyor of beauty. My attacks will hurt, but they will not alter your appearance."  
"Uh… What's up with your arms?" Lucario asked while getting an eerie sensation, "Hey, I thought we were going to do hand-to-hand combat!"  
"… Hand-to-hand, eh? Tell you what…" the Gallade continued, the glow on his long arms changing their color to yellow, "I'll let you throw the first punch. Come on, give it your best shot!"  
  
In an instant Lucario closed the distance between them and attacked, the Gallade nimbly avoiding the punch by twisting his head to the side. Another punch quickly followed as the Gallade leaned back gracefully to avoid it. Relentless in his assault, Lucario struck once more, but his blow was parried by the Gallade's right hand. A light tingling sensation came from his arm as Lucario threw himself forward, headbutting the Gallade in the chest and making him quickly jump back  
  
"Ah!" the Gallade coughed as minute pain spread through his chest, "S-Such a brutal way of fighting!"  
"… You said that you cannot measure skill" Lucario said slowly while striking a new fighting pose, "Guess what? I've already measured yours, and I suggest that you give up."  
"Y-You're a lot better than I'd have thought…" the Gallade stuttered slightly while still smiling, "And here I had you pegged as a simple brute!"  
  
The Gallade wouldn't show it, but his confidence was starting to wane. Unlike his companions, he had never been a fan of fighting; only resorting to it when he had to or was sure to win easily. It was not that he wasn't a man of action, but more that he wished to preserve his appearance.  
Before he evolved into a Gallade, he effectively had no face. Growing up as a Ralts was tough, his identity covered up by a helmet-like hair which made people mistake him for someone else all the time. Transforming into a Kirlia did little to improve his situation, as everyone he met thought he was a girl. When at long last he became a Gallade, he wasted no time flaunting his newfound form to everyone, finally having received an appearance and realized with great shock that he was in fact… Beautiful!  
  
"My face… Is who I am…" the Gallade said shakily, his determination returning, "Will you please stop aiming at it!?"  
"I'm not going to lose in hand-to-hand combat" Lucario said with equal determination, feeling his body heat up from the battle.  
"Quit playing around, or you're going to lose!" Pikablu yelled to the Gallade, before seeing the Weavile behind them and suddenly remembering his important thoughts from earlier.  
"Oh yeah? Well then, feast your eyes on this!" the Gallade said sharply before shouting, "À la seconde, tension!"  
  
The Gallade's arms received a strong yellow glow as he approached Lucario with long, elegant steps. Before reaching him, the Gallade spun around quickly with his arms outstretched to increase the velocity of his strike, but Lucario ducked in order to avoid it. He prepared an uppercut as a counter as the Gallade suddenly spun even faster than before, his arms coming around too quickly and hitting Lucario in the head. The blow was fairly weak, but a strange electrical sensation grabbed a hold of his head while the Gallade continued spinning around and pummeled his head with attack after attack.  
  
With the paralysis slowing down his senses, it took Lucario great effort to hold up his arms in defense. The Gallade kept spinning, and with each blow Lucario felt his arms becoming crippled as well. He raised a leg clumsily in order to kick the Gallade, but the constant onslaught proved to be too much as he stumbled backwards.  
  
"That's it! Time for an electrifying Fish Dive!" the Gallade shouted as he leaped forward, grabbing a hold around the stunned Lucario's waist. Using all his might, he lifted him up into the air, before large streams of electricity ran through his glowing arms into Lucario's body. Lucario shouted as his body shimmered from the heavy voltage, the sensation reminding him of his encounter with Raikou. The pain was far weaker compared to back then, which was because the shocks were not as powerful, and also because he had not already been damaged from using the…  
An odd sensation suddenly crawled through Lucario, and he was unable to stop himself because of the paralysis. His right arm instantly caught fire, cutting through the yellow glow of the Gallade's arm with a deep blue color. The two of them screamed out in pain, the Gallade letting go of Lucario and stumbling back.  
  
"AAARGH! YOU ASSHOLE!" the Gallade howled as he crouched down, clutching his arm. With a panicked stare he looked down at his arm, fearing the worst from the amount of pain he was feeling. Much to his relief, his arm looked completely fine instead of being horribly mutilated.  
"… What… can I say…?" Lucario said weakly, unintentionally synchronizing his movement with his opponent, "Play with fire… You get burned…"  
"Heh… Fire?" the Gallade mumbled sinisterly, "Thanks for reminding me. Lucario are weak against fire, right?"  
"He's right!" Zerobi suddenly shouted from behind Lucario, "Lucario, watch it!"  
"Stay out of this, Zerobi…" Lucario replied before standing up and looking directly at the Gallade, "You're skilled, but brittle. Let's see how roundhouse kicks to the face you can take!"  
"Yikes! So much for a gentleman's duel!" the Gallade exclaimed in a shocked tone, "Fine! Let's do it for real!"  
  
The glow around the Gallade's arms dissipated, while the aching in Lucario's arm also begun to go down. He wondered what was going to happen next - Anticipating the Gallade in close combat was difficult because of all his strange movements, and the paralyzing glow around his arms made blocking a bad idea. Instead, Lucario focused his eyes onto his opponent and prepared himself to dodge the next attack, whatever it was.  
  
His plan backfired. The attack struck him without the Gallade showing any sign of movement. A crushing sensation immediately enveloped Lucario, as if his every pore was contracting. While it hurt, it was nothing compared to the aura his arm had endured or even the thunder strike from earlier. Lucario hunched forward a bit, and merely growled as a response as he tried to find out what was hurting him. However, as suddenly as it had started, it simply stopped.  
  
"… Eh!? My Psychic attack did-" the Gallade started before stopping himself as Lucario came running at him. He began charging up his fire punch, but was unable to complete it in time as Lucario was upon him. Twisting around he managed to avoid a few of Lucario's punches, but finally got hit in the stomach.  
  
The Gallade bent over with a cough, and Lucario saw his chance. He put all his strength into a roundhouse kick, aimed at the vulnerable face of his opponent. The Gallade gave off a terrified meep as he saw the strong leg approaching, and Lucario yelled out in pain as he felt his foot connect with something unexpectedly hard. It had stopped right in front of the Gallade's terrified face, a pink barrier having appeared between them.  
  
"Not the face, dude!" the Gallade said out loud as his confidence returned, and clamped his strange arms around Lucario's outstretched leg.  
"Shocking pirouette!" the Gallade exclaimed in utter glee as he started spinning around again. As his arms were effectively locked around Lucario's leg, he had no choice but to follow as he was being spun around the Gallade like a ragdoll.  
"WaaAAaaAAhh!" Lucario shouted as the Gallade's arms once again started glowing yellow, and he felt a large amount of voltage creeping up his leg. The shouts turned into screams, the Gallade increasing the electrical output. To the others, it was as if a large electrical tornado had been created, everyone on the sidelines having an impressed look on their faces… Except for Pikablu.  
  
"YOU READY!?" the Gallade suddenly yelled, making Kabuta look directly at Pikablu as she knew what was coming next.  
"Uh… No" Pikablu responded, scratching his head.  
"… WHAT!?" the Gallade shouted, trying to shout down Lucario's terrified howls.  
"I've got something I want to ask him" Pikablu said calmly, "Put him down, or something."  
"NO! LE GRAND FINALÈ!" the Gallade kept shouting, sounding more and more annoyed as his arms were starting to tire, "COME ON!"  
  
Feeling everyone's eyes gaze upon his beautiful performance, as well as remembering the camera's unending stare, he simply could not let such a magnificent ending pass by. Stubbornly he held on to Lucario, trying to think of a proper finale while starting to slow down from exhaustion.  
  
As the Gallade slowed down only for a moment, Lucario used the full extent of his abdominal muscles to bend his upper body towards him. Just barely reaching his own leg, he instantly pulled the Gallade's arms apart, holding on to the right one as maintained velocity threw him away. The Gallade as unable to keep his balance while holding on to Lucario with only one arm, and was pulled along. The instant Lucario hit the ground, he kicked off it and sprung forward with the most powerful uppercut of his life, hitting the faltering Gallade directly in the jaw.  
  
The Gallade flew up into the air, and then fell down on the ground. Zerobi and Kabuta both collectively gasped, while Pikablu just sighed.  
  
"Yeah, so anyway, I've got a question" he said, completely undaunted by the whole situation.  
"Is it… 'Why are you so awesome'…?" Lucario asked while trying to catch his breath, "Because… Honestly… Sometimes I ask myself that, too…"  
"GAAAHHH! My face!" the Gallade screamed in terror as he leaped up to his feet and looked over at Kabuta, "Is it alright!? PLEASE TELL ME IT'S ALRIGHT!"  
"It's fine" Pikablu groaned, "Now, take a rest."  
"Oh, hell no!" the Gallade shouted angrily as he faced Lucario, "I told him not to touch the face, yet he did! His ass is grass!"  
"Alright, just wait a few moments" Pikablu said calmly, "Let me ask something first."  
"Just ask away, already!" Lucario blurted out impatiently.  
"Not you" Pikablu said sharply as he suddenly pointed at Zerobi, "Her."  
  
"… Me?" Zerobi asked with a confused tone as everyone turned their faces at her.  
"Yeah" Pikablu said, "Your name's Zerobi, right?"  
"… Yes" Zerobi responded slowly, trying to remember if she had met this Pikachu earlier.  
"Ugh, why am I the one that has to do this…" Pikablu mumbled as he tried thinking of a way to explain everything, "Zerobi… Do you have a family?"  
"… Sure…" Zerobi mumbled, starting to worry that he knew anything about her sordid past.  
"Really?" Pikablu asked while struggling hard to come up with a way to go about things without sounding crazy.  
"If you must know, they were caught when I was a kid" Zerobi answered as a faint image of two Pokémon appeared in her mind, "Haven't seen them since."  
"Alright, let me rephrase my question…" Pikablu said as he came up with a better approach to the issue, "Do you have a biological family?"  
  
"… Hmpf" Zerobi huffed as she felt everyone's eyes on her, and couldn't help but feel like they were silently judging her every response, "Nope. Orphan, they found me, then orphaned again."  
"Ah! So you remember something from before the time that they found you?" Pikablu quickly said, relieved to be making some progress.  
"Not really, no…" Zerobi mumbled, "What's with all these question? You're creeping me out."  
"You're creeping ME out, Pikablu" the Gallade said, "Why'd you interrupt our battle for this?"  
"Her's name's Zerobi" Pikablu said as he looked at the Gallade before raising his voice, "ZEROBI!"  
"… You mean…" the Gallade muttered as he thought back to a story from long ago, "… No, don't you remember? She's dead!"  
"Uh… Well…" Zerobi said slowly while thinking about her past, "I don't know where you're getting with all this, but… Yeah, I've been dead."  
"… Wait, what?" Lucario mumbled as he raised his voice in surprise, "W-What the hell!?"  
"I knew it!" Pikablu exclaimed with determination, "You've got special powers, don't you!?"  
"… Maybe" Zerobi said before finally getting fed up with the cross-examination, "Why would you even care!? Spit it out, already!"  
"I happen to be acquainted with a certain Celebi, who has been searching for her sibling Zerobi for a long time…" Pikablu explained as eloquently as he could, "… You are the sister of a Legendary!"  
  
"… No, I'm not…" Zerobi responded bluntly, feeling disappointed over all the time wasted.  
"Yes, you are!" Pikablu contradicted, "Your forgotten origins! Your hidden powers! The name! It can't all be a coincidence!"  
"Come on, you're actually using her name as proof just because they sound similar?" Lucario asked with a snort, "That's stupid on SO many levels…"  
Zerobi stood in silence, but something about her told Lucario that she had something to say.  
"What?" he asked.  
"… My parents didn't name me" Zerobi said slowly, "It was… Written on me."  
"Written…" Lucario repeated before realizing the implications, "T-They carved your name into your body!?"  
"No!" Zerobi shouted back, "Just… You know, pawprints."  
"Zerobi…" Pikablu said, now more confident of her true identity, "Your sister… She's been searching for you. A lot."  
"My sister… Celebi?" she mumbled to herself, shaking her head in disbelief, "I'm all for mysteries and excitement, but this is pretty inane. Got any proof?"  
"… Proof?" the Gallade exclaimed and started thinking hard, "What kind of proof would you expect there to be? An umbilical cord?"  
"A reason for me to go off with you three strangers" Zerobi said as she decided to act on her earlier fears, "Quick warning - Touch me inappropriately and your head'll fly off."  
  
"… I've got it!" Pikablu suddenly burst out, at long last finding proof that didn't involve any more explanations, "We're on our way right now to rescue Celebi from a trainer, come with us and meet her yourself!"  
"… Rescue? Aaahh! Now I get it!" Zerobi exclaimed with a relieved expression, "You mean, my sister's someone named 'Celebi'? I thought you meant The Legendary Celebi!"  
"I did" Pikablu responded bluntly.  
"… But that's impossible!" Zerobi shouted, "A legendary Pokémon like that, caught? It'd be all over the news! Actually, I guess I wouldn't know about that, but… But… Argh!"  
  
Zerobi groaned loudly in annoyance, crossing her arms as she entered deep thought. The part of her that adored everything occult practically begged for her to pursue the stories this Pikachu was telling her, while a more rational part of her told her to stick to living a life as normal as possible.  
Her very existence became deeply scarred by the events that unfolded the last time she dabbled with the unknown. Even so, her meeting with Astrid had forever proved to her that strange phenomenon are not as rare as one might think, and her frightening powers had yet to be given a rational explanation.  
  
In the end, it came down to moving on with her life like nothing had happened, or listening to the Pikachu. To chase after a wild, unlikely dream of adventure and romance… Or listening to the Pikachu.  
  
"Listen, this is all sounding kind of… Silly" Zerobi explained when she broke away from her trance, "The Legendary Celebi is my sister? Yeah right. I bet my father's Mew, I'm actually an oracle and my son is prophesized to bring balance to the force."  
"Hah… Snappy" Pikablu scoffed, "What, you think legendary Pokémon don't have siblings?  
"Come see her for yourself!" the Gallade chimed in with a cheerful expression dimming out his reddening jaw, "She IS a legendary, after all. It's not like it'll be a waste of time!"  
"I don't know!" Zerobi said while shaking her confused head, "What do you think, Lucario?"  
"Like I said, we don't really have a destination" Lucario replied quickly with a nonchalant shrug, "Oh, and I should mention that I have NO idea what anyone's talking about. What, your sister's a celebrity?"  
"… Are you joking?" the Gallade asked with a condescending tone, "The Legendary Celebi! Mother nature and all that!"  
"Legendary celebrity or not, whatever happens…" Lucario replied, looking at the mark he had left on the Gallade's face, "… So, like, do we team up now? Or keep fighting to the death?"  
"To the death…?" the Gallade repeated with a horrified expression, "I-I wasn't even going to hit you in the face, you were planning on killing me!?"  
"… Naaaahhhh…" Lucario drew out the word with a smug smile on his face, sending a chill through the Gallade's spine.  
"Pikablu! This guy's crazy!" the Gallade turned his head and pleaded with his partner, "We can't bring them along!"  
  
"… Pikablu? Wait…" Zerobi whispered to herself while rummaging through her memory banks to locate the familiar name, "Wait wait wait… I read about that! In Occult Magazine #53!"  
"Occult Magazine? Hyahahaha!" the Gallade laughed loudly, "You read that garbage!?"  
"I used to live in Cerulean City, and was quite surprised to read about it" Zerobi said, ignoring the Gallade's even more familiar mocking of her favorite magazine. She remembered how she had been worried that it had something to do with Evo's Gate or Astrid, but…  
"From what I remember, it was a natural disaster…?" she said with a questioning tone.  
"Nah, that's just what they told the public…" Pikablu said with a confident smile, "Truth is, it was all me!"  
"… Yeah right. What's in a name?" Zerobi said slowly as another memory popped up "There already was some guy that got named after the incident, some 'legendary trio' that…"  
"… Kicked ass?" Pikablu finished her sentence as she trailed off, an odd thought striking her.  
"Y-Yes… A trio…" she said with a dazzled voice, trying to make sense out of her thoughts, "A… A Pikachu… A-And…" She suddenly became silent, staring at the three Pokémon in front of her with new eyes.  
  
"… What!? You're… You're serious!?" she exclaimed in surprise, "You're The Legendary Trio!?"  
"You bet!" the Gallade said with a wink, "Well, two thirds, anyway. Kabuta here's a stand-in."  
"Might as well tell you what's really going on" Pikablu said, his throat becoming somewhat sore from all the talking.  
"Oh, goodie" Lucario muttered sarcastically, "Not to sound didactic, but shouldn't you just have started with that?"  
"This Gallade, Kabutops and I are good friends with Celebi" Pikablu started explaining while giving the Gallade a silent glance, "… Some more than others. As you know, they've been hunting down strong Pokémon, and both Celebi and Kabutops were attacked and caught by a trainer not long ago."  
"So we're getting them back, simple as that!" the Gallade chimed in as he dragged the attention away from Pikablu, "On a bold adventure of both romance and action!"  
"Getting them back?" Zerobi asked, now beginning to ignore the Gallade as a reflex, "After they've been caught?"  
"We'll work out the details of that once the trainer's down" Pikablu continued to explain, "Supposedly smashing the Pokeball to bits will set them free, if not we can just punch him until he gives in to our demands."  
  
"… But not kill him, apparently…" Kabuta muttered angrily, having remained silent for quite a while.  
"Oh yeah" Pikablu said, interrupting himself to make sure nothing slipped his mind, "This is Kabuta, daughter of Kabutops. Her brother also got hurt pretty badly by trainer, hence why she's in a foul mood."  
"Bah! Like I give a shit about him!" Kabuta shouted with a dangerous swipe of her scythe, "It was his damn fault to begin with for being such a weak sack of shit!"  
"R-Right in front of Pikablu…" the Gallade stammered frightfully, "Come on! Show your brother some sympathy!"  
"Don't worry, I've gotten over that" Pikablu sighed, an image of a smiling Pichu flashing through his mind, "I think you're underestimating him, though. You shouldn't forget that out of those three, he was the only one to make it back."  
"Yeah, and that's why pops is…!" Kabuta roared before suddenly turning her back on them and becoming quiet. Although she was still fuming with rage, she knew better than to push her luck when talking about her brother in front of Pikablu. All her life she had been associated with her twin, even though they were nothing alike.  
It drove her crazy. Forced to spend her life with a weak, indecisive sibling, all because they were tied together by blood… And nothing else.  
  
"… OK, so what if I am Celebi's sister? What am I to do?" Zerobi broke the silence with a hint of worry in her voice, "Are we going to start braiding each other's hair, or is she going to force me on a journey through time?"  
"I think she just wants to see you" Pikablu said with sincerity, even though he himself wasn't exactly sure, "Friendliest being you'll ever meet. Seeing how nicely she treated her assailant, I can't imagine how she'll treat her sister!"  
"… Assailant?" Zerobi asked.  
"Uh… I'll let Celebi fill you in on that" Pikablu replied, "If anything becomes of this, that is. What do you say?"  
"Tch…" Zerobi spat, thinking over her decision one last time, "… Alright, fine, but the whole touch-inappropriately heads-rolling thing is still in effect."  
"We'll keep that in mind…" Pikablu said calmly before fixing a stare into the Gallade"… Won't we?"  
"Hey, I'm not touching the Lucario's girl" the Gallade said while waving his arms back and forth, "I've fought that guy enough to last me a lifetime."  
"About that…" Zerobi muttered slowly while looking at Lucario, "We're not a couple, we're just traveling together."  
"Yep" Lucario said, "I'm married to the law, and I don't want to make it any more jealous."  
  
Lucario paused for laughter as everyone became silent.  
  
"… You know, since I'm on the run…" Lucario tried explaining, the moment for the joke clearly having passed.  
"I just barely get it" Pikablu groaned as he looked at Zerobi, "We really don't need him. You sure you want him to come?"  
"Yeah" Zerobi responded quickly, "I'll feel safer to have someone I can trust with me."  
"… Pah…" Lucario grunted as he felt embarrassed, and a memory of the penguin-like being surfaced, "To think that anyone'd trust me after…"  
"Alright, you're on the team" Pikablu said bluntly while waving back to the Gallade, "No more jokes, I already have it up to here with this sissy."  
"HEY!" the Gallade exclaimed with a hurt voice, "I fought, didn't I!? I totally kicked his ass, and looked cool while doing it!"  
"Yeah, you're a real hero" Pikablu snapped back sarcastically, "Don't forget your camera."  
"Don't forget your testicles, either…" Kabuta said as she was emulating Pikablu, "… Oh, wait! Way too late for that!"  
  
Everyone started laughing as the Gallade scrambled back to pick up his camera. Even though they were unfamiliar with each other, the two teams joined forces and began their journey towards rescuing Kabutops and Celebi, gaining both new determination and experience in the process.


	13. Mythical Monster Rayquaza

**Day 1  
Afternoon**  
  
  
"… Blech" Lucario grumbled together with his disgusted stomach, glancing disappointedly at the oddly shaped berry in his hand, "Isn't there anything you can dip these thing in that'll make them taste better?"  
"Nothing's tastier than berries!" the Gallade said while removing some large leaves off his berry, "What do you think could possibly enhance their flavor?"  
"… I'd take mud, at this point…" Lucario groaned.  
"Plenty of that to go around…" Pikablu muttered, taking a bite out of a purple berry covered with dull spikes, "You just need to find a taste that you like. Here, try a dry berry."  
"For the last time, DRY IS NOT A TASTE!" Lucario yelled much louder than necessary, "It's an attribute! Heck, if you dip a dry berry in water, what does it become? Wait, let me try that…"  
Lucario snatched the berry Pikablu was eating and ran up to the nearby river where he dipped it in. When he took his hand out, the only thing in it was a faint hint of a purplish color as it had dissolved.  
  
"Guess that answers that" Pikablu said coolly, picking up another berry from the backpack, "Normally they just melt in your mouth."  
"No! This answers nothing!" Lucario exclaimed while scratching his head in annoyance, "That… This… How… Argh!"  
"… Anyway, when we find the trainer… How do we fight him?" Zerobi asked, ignoring her partner completely for once, "Do we battle one by one or all at once?"  
"There's five of us, and I'll bet you anything he's got six Pokémon on him…" Pikablu answered the question that he felt a bit ashamed over not having given any thought to, "… So, that puts us at a disadvantage."  
"Don't forget that two out of those six are Celebi and Kabutops!" the Gallade chimed in, "They'll be on our side!"  
"Right…" Pikablu said, blinking rapidly.  
"Wait… How exactly do you know he's got six Pokémon with him?" Lucario asked, remembering his many encounters with Brendan.  
"It's illegal to carry more than six" Pikablu explained, "Extra Pokémon get sent somewhere… Or the trainer's sent to jail."  
"… Really? Jail?" Lucario mumbled questioningly, "He doesn't get publicly executed or anything?"  
"Haha…" Pikablu snickered as Zerobi smacked her forehead, "Nah… I think that'd be a bit too rough."  
  
  
 **Day 1  
Evening**  
  
  
Lucario and Zerobi were preparing their sleeping bags, when the Gallade and Pikablu got their belongings and started walking away.  
  
"Wait, where're you going?" Zerobi asked, looking up from the ground.  
"To the other side of that hill" Pikablu said and pointed to a grassy knoll a little further away, "No offense, but I'd appreciate it if I didn't wake up with one of you at my throat."  
"None taken…" Lucario replied slowly, "I sleep light, so don't even think about extracting revenge for earlier, either..."  
"Oh, I won't…" the Gallade muttered sarcastically, "Mr. Kills-Their-Opponents-For-Kicks!"  
  
A heavy aura began forming between the two of them, a remnant from and reminder of their earlier battle.  
"… This is setting a pretty bad mood" Lucario mumbled before looking directly at the Gallade, "You, what's your name?"  
"Not important" the Gallade replied quickly, "What is it?"  
"Here, punch me in the face!" Lucario said sharply while pointing at his nose, "That'll make things even from before."  
"… Even!? Hahaha!" the Gallade started laughing, "But I totally manhandled you back there! We're far beyond even!"  
"You two still on that?" Pikablu sighed with disappointment as Lucario clenched his fist, "Can you at least hide your animosity? We're supposed to be working together, you know…"  
"Give them some time, they'll get over it" Zerobi assured him with a nod.  
"Kabuta, are things cool between you two?" Pikablu asked, looking at the unusually silent Kabutops next to him, "You've been quieter than your old man since the fight."  
"… Uh, yeah…" Kabuta whispered back while staring intently at Lucario, "… I'm cool."   
Lucario was suddenly hit by an ominous feeling, and could not help but shudder a bit.  
  
  
 **Day 1  
Night**  
  
  
"Lucario…" Zerobi whispered while trying to pick up signs of life from the Pokémon beside her, "Are you awake?"  
"Yeah" Lucario responded, getting pulled back from his half-sleeping state.  
"… Quite a weird twist of fate, isn't it?" Zerobi said before shuddering bit as the cliché left her mouth, "I mean, not fate, but… You know what I mean."  
"Gotta say, didn't imagine this happening when I woke up this morning" Lucario sighed, "Which, of course, is what every day's been like since I became a Lucario."  
"I'm glad you're here at least, so if bad thing go down…" Zerobi whispered slowly, "… You'll be here, right?"  
"… Yeah. I've got your back" Lucario replied while stifling a short laugh, "You've got my back, back?"  
"Uh…" Zerobi mumbled as she remembered their last couple of fights and felt an explanation was in order, "Listen, I know I've been on the sidelines a lot lately, but-"  
"Honestly? I'd prefer it if you stick with that" Lucario interrupted her, "I like it. Teaming up in a fight is such a mess."  
"Well… Especially for me, with that blood issue…" Zerobi whispered while closing her eyes.  
"Besides, you're pretty good support" Lucario whispered back, "You know, whacking the shit out of my enemy when I'm down."  
"Hmm…" Zerobi wondered for a moment, "… What about the medical care?"  
"Actually, that ends now" Lucario replied sternly, "After what happened last time, I think I'd rather have that Kabuta thing try her luck."  
  
  
 **Day 2  
Morning**  
  
  
"So, Lucario…" Pikablu asked as he jumped over a small log block their way, "What's the deal with you?"  
"Nothing much, on the run currently" Lucario responded nonchalantly before a quick shudder passed through him, "Being chased by the stuff nightmares are made out of."  
"Uh, maybe we should've mentioned that earlier…" Zerobi said, "Yeah, Lucario's being hunted down by legendary Pokémon. Suicune, for instance."  
"… WHAT!?" both Pikablu and the Gallade exclaimed at the same time.  
"There was that Raikou too, remember?" Lucario jumped in to clarify, "Oh, and some weird bird on two legs, I think…"  
"Raikou!? You've fought Raikou!?" Pikablu repeated with apparent shock, "How'd you win!?"  
"We didn't" Zerobi said quickly before Lucario could respond, "His trainer showed mercy on us and let us go."  
"… Huh. Never heard of that happening before…" Pikablu said as he calmed down, "He must've thought you were too weak to be worth the effort, or something…"  
"I'll have you know…!" Lucario burst out before suddenly remembering that he wasn't able to land a single hit against either of them, "… I'll beat them, next time!"  
"Hey, tell me what the trainer looked like" Pikablu said indifferently, "Maybe I'll fight him once this is all over…"  
"Stick around, I'll bet you it'll be sooner than that" Lucario replied, somewhat relieved to see the Pikachu smiling in return instead of soiling himself in fear.  
  
  
 **Day 2  
Afternoon**  
  
  
"Alright, I think my muscles've finally healed!" Pikablu chanted cheerfully while throwing his arms up into the air, "Let's train!"  
"Same her, luckily I didn't take much damage from…" the Gallade started, before turning over to Lucario with a question, "… Hey, will you be joining us?"  
"… Training?" Lucario said in a fairly low volume, "Should I bother training a body that's not even mine…?"  
"Depends" Pikablu said, not really sure what he meant by 'not mine' but certain it was another joke that simply fell flat, "Do you plan on using it, or should we carry you the rest of the way?"  
"Guess what? Some of us have to actually work hard to stay in shape!" the Gallade piled on with annoyance in his voice.  
"You're constantly fighting for your life, and that's even a question?" Zerobi jumped on as well, "If it increases you chance of survival by even 1%, you should do it."  
  
"Fine!" Lucario shouted angrily, "Geez, cut me some slack over here! I'm still in mourning over all of this!"  
"Sounds to me like you're still in whining" Pikablu said and shrugged his shoulders.  
"Hey! I've been through hell recently, I've got the right to whine!" Lucario pointed out while gritting his teeth, "Like anything that bad's ever happened to you!"  
Pikablu and Zerobi couldn't help but stifle a laugh at this, knowing that few things could compare to their sordid past.  
  
  
 **Day 2  
Evening**  
  
  
"A-A spar!" Kabuta stammered while pointing at Lucario, "Let's spar!"  
"Spar? Still rarin' even after the training?" Lucario asked before jumping up to his feet, "I'm OK with that. It got my blood flowing, too."  
"I won't go down as easily, this time!" Kabuta yelled confidently, the two of them walking off to the top of a nearby hill.  
"Go easy on her, now!" Pikablu shouted while feeling that he should probably follow them, but ignored it as resting in the warm grass felt so comfortable after his grueling training session.  
  
A few minutes later, they were both struck by a case of uncanny reminiscence as Lucario was sitting on top of Kabuta once again.  
  
"Damn it! I don't get it…!" Kabuta growled pitifully against the ground, "Back home, I never lost a single battle… Especially not when it came to fighting types!"  
"… You know, if I were to guess…" Lucario said in a calm manner, "I'd say it's because you've got an advantage over most people."  
"… What?" Kabuta asked, not sure which part of her fighting style he was referring to.  
"You're pretty eager to fight, and look quite intimidating" Lucario explained, leaning back on his living seat while using his arms for support, "Most people aren't looking for a fight. Already on that level, you've got an edge."  
"But…" Kabuta said before trailing off.  
"Me? I've fought many hard battles, and seen shit that would curve your… You know what" Lucario continued, "To me, you're just another opponent."  
"Just… Another opponent…" Kabuta whispered to herself, covering up a sad sigh.  
  
The two of them sat on the hill and Kabuta for a few moments, watching the orange sun go down by the horizon.  
  
"… Wait…" Lucario said after a long time of silence, "Could it be that you're fighting just because you look like that?"  
"Huh?" Kabuta exclaimed, all too aware of what he was referring to, "W-What? No! My twin brother looks the same, and he's a complete lameass!"  
"Always with the namecalling…" Lucario sighed, "You know, I get the feeling your animosity for your brother beyond sibling rivalry."  
"Hmpf… " Kabuta huffed, wishing she could cross her arms lying down for extra effect, " Just sayin'… Had it been me, they wouldn't have gotten pops or cell."  
  
Again they became silent, both exhausted from the sparring as well as the earlier training. Both felt that they should be moving, but like Pikablu were simply too comfortable to bother.  
  
"… Hey…" Kabuta whispered after yet another long silence, "Tell me about those battles."  
"Uh… What battles?" Lucario asked.  
"You know…" Kabuta said curiously, "The hardest!"  
  
  
 **Day 3  
Afternoon**  
  
  
The wind was blowing across the plains, setting the strands of grass surrounding the quintet in constant motion, almost like a perpetual dance. It was then, out of nowhere that the Gallade suddenly stopped himself.  
"Finally…" he said to himself, "… I've got one!"  
"Where?" Pikablu asked hopefully.  
"It's actually coming towards us" the Gallade responded, exhaling most of the air in his lungs as a strong feeling came upon him, "It's… Extremely powerful."  
"Huh…" Lucario mumbled as a familiar sensation started creeping up on him as well, "Yeah. I sense it, too."  
"Finally!" Kabuta exclaimed cheerfully, "Let's beat this thing and go home!"  
"Wait…" the Gallade mumbled while closing his eyes and focusing harder, "Scratch that, it's ridiculously powerful… And flying!"  
"… Flying? You sure?" Pikablu asked, rummaging through his memory banks and giving off a short snicker, "It's not Ho-Oh, is it?"  
"Same level of power, I'd say…!" the Gallade muttered as he suddenly started feeling very hot.  
"… What!?" Pikablu exclaimed in startled surprise, "You're kidding!"  
"I can attest to that… This one's outrageous!" Lucario chimed in, noticing that whatever it was had already exceeded the power of both Suicune and Raikou.  
"Are you sure it's the one we're looking for?" Kabuta asked the Gallade, feeling that his word wasn't exactly the most reliable.  
"Oh, sure, might just be someone taking a mortal god out for a stroll" the Gallade snapped angrily, "By the way, I sense someone on t-"  
"I see something at the horizon!" Zerobi suddenly said, pointing to their left. Everyone turned their head, barely making out something appearing from behind a nearby mountain.  
"That's the one!" the Gallade said while squinting his eyes, "I can't… Really see… Wait…"  
  
Slowly the powerful creature began emerging by the mountaintop, slithering above it with a long body like a cobra creeping out of a snake charmer's basket. At first they thought they were seeing the full beast, but as more and more of the monster's body became apparent they could not help but gasp.  
It was almost as big as the top of the mountain it was passing above. Moving through the sky with twisting movements was something that could not be described as anything other than a gargantuan flying serpent. Its body was shimmering with an emerald color, as well as markings that almost looked like warpaint. Long antler-like appendages stuck out of its head, and giant arms small in comparison to the rest of its body were at its sides.  
  
"W-What in god's name…" Lucario stuttered, barely able to comprehend the size of the humongous beast.  
"That's…" the Gallade said slowly yet loudly, his ever present smile fading away, "… That's not what I think it is, right!?"  
"… Rayquaza…" Pikablu muttered to himself, "… Unbelievable."  
"W-We're not fighting that thing, are we!?" Zerobi said with a terrified shout, followed by a gasp. They all stood frozen as Rayquaza turned to the left, moving further away from their position.  
"To be able to defeat Celebi and Kabutops, it'd have to be something like that" Pikablu explained, still staring in disbelief, "… But honestly, I never would've imagined…"  
"Hurry, he's getting away!" the Gallade yelled, "The trainer's riding that thing! Whatever you're gonna do, do it now!"  
"Tch, it can't be helped…!" Pikablu growled before becoming surrounded by several lightning bolts. Lucario stumbled back in shock as Pikablu shot out a large pillar of electricity towards the mythological monster.  
Rayquaza remained on its course, not even noticing the attack before being struck by it. It went from shimmering emerald to lighting up like a beacon in the sky, shooting lightning in every direction.  
"ARE YOU INSANE!?" Zerobi screamed at Pikablu, "LOOK AT THAT THING! We'll be eaten al-"  
Zerobi was interrupted by an incredibly powerful roar filling the sky, shaking them all to their very core.  
  
"… Hey, wait!" Lucario suddenly exclaimed, "I thought Pokémon couldn't eat each other!"  
"Big mouth, tiny us…" the Gallade answered while trying his best to force a smile, "Although, I think a casual maiming's more likely."  
"… He sees us…!" Kabuta whispered slowly, Rayquaza fixing a gaze into them so hateful that they could almost feel it.  
"There's a trainer on Rayquaza's back…" the Gallade said quietly while listening with all his might, "He's saying something."  
"Don't keep us in the dark, man!" Kabuta shouted, making the Gallade flinch from the change in volume.  
"He's saying…" the Gallade muttered with a faint smile appearing on his face, "… He says that the brown one's built like a brick."  
"… WHAT!?" Kabuta bellowed, shaking with rage, "WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE!"  
"How about telling us what he's actually saying?" Pikablu asked sternly.  
"Hey, just trying to get her fired up for the battle…" the Gallade snickered weakly, "I can't hear anything from here, anyway."  
"I think I know what he said" Lucario muttered with a snarky tone while the enormous adder turned around in midair and began rapidly descending on their location, "… Giant flying serpent aside, we probably should've seen this coming."  
"Everyone, scatter!" Pikablu suddenly yelled, everyone splitting off in different directions as Rayquaza came rushing down at them. Before they knew it, its massive body was upon them as it swooped by the ground, causing extreme turbulence around it.   
They all managed to avoid the humongous tackle, but it was so powerful that it was like if the air by the impact site had cracked and split in two. Simply being near it was enough to make the wind currents throw everyone into the air. Everyone managed to land safely, except for Kabuta who was the closest to the impact site and tumbled around after crashing on the ground.  
  
"You OK!?" Pikablu shouted at his niece as Rayquaza soared up into the sky again.  
"Fucking flying twister-spitting locomotive!" Kabuta responded cheekily while trying to regain her orientation.  
"Holy shit, that was bad!" Zerobi shouted, instantly rising to her feet, "If that thing hits us… How the hell're we gonna fight that!?"  
Lucario growled angrily when they all heard a voice echoing from above them, looking up to see Rayquaza come back for another turn.  
  
"Come on, Pikablu!" the Gallade shouted while keeping his eyes on their enemy, "We don't stand a chance against that thing! Use 50% or something!"  
"… I can't!" Pikablu suddenly burst out, also staring into the sky, "That trainer's riding on Rayquaza's back! With an attack like that, he'll die for sure!"  
"This isn't the right time to be going soft!" the Gallade yelled angrily as Lucario and Zerobi looked at each other with fear, "Let's take the risk!"  
"No way! I'm not killing him!" Pikablu yelled back, glaring at his old friend.  
"There's no other way!" the Gallade kept yelling as the giant serpent approached, "This is Kabutops and Celebi we're talking about, don't they mean more to you than some shitty human!?"  
"HOW D'YOU THINK SHE'S GOING TO REACT IF I KILL SOMEONE TO SAVE HER!?" Pikablu roared with indignation, making both Kabuta and the Gallade twitch fearfully, "I... FUCKING… CAN'T DO IT!"  
"… Damn it! These three aren't reliable at all!" Zerobi shouted hopelessly to Lucario, trying her best to not panic as Rayquaza was getting even closer, "Retreat!"  
  
"Fine…" Lucario sighed with a bored tone, being the only one unaffected by Pikablu's explosion of rage, "Like usual, I have to do everything myself…"  
Everyone started feeling to try to avoid the oncoming attack, running past Lucario who instead stood his ground and faced Razquaza.  
  
"LUCARIO! NO!" Zerobi screamed as she looked back and her blood curdled, seeing her miniscule partner quickly become completely overshadowed by the massive beast.  
"RUN, YOU DAMN FOOL!" Pikablu roared, to which Lucario responded by running towards the diving Rayquaza. It had its mouth wide open with intimidating fangs showing, making him pray that his timing would not be off by even a split second.  
Barely a few feet in front of the charging snake, Lucario soared into the sky above it with a mighty leap. The air was once again turn asunder from Rayquaza's tackle, a massive vortex of turmoil and destruction forming with strands of grass ripping out of the ground underneath them. Lucario could already feel the strong wind currents tugging at him, and braced himself as he reached out as far as he could towards his target.  
  
Lucas had a tight grip of Rayquaza as he suddenly saw something unexpected approaching in the corner of his eye. Before he could react, the much larger Lucario slammed into him, forcing him to let go of his trusted Pokémon. The extreme wind current around them suddenly hit, as both him and the Lucario tumbled off Rayquaza's back and fell on the ground, their fall somewhat softened by the grass.  
  
"LUCARIO!" Zerobi shouted, not seeing whether he was still in one piece or not.  
"W-Whoa!" Kabuta screamed with a startled voice. "H-he attacked the fucking trainer!"  
"DO IT NOW!" Lucario yelled as loudly as he could, pinning down the panicking trainer underneath him.  
"Haha, you crazy bastard!" Pikablu shouted happily as he charged up, "Keep your head down!"  
  
Zerobi sighed out of relief as she saw Lucario keep the trainer pinned down beneath him, before suddenly getting hit by something from her side and getting pinned down herself.  
"Stay down!" the Gallade shouted, ducking his head in her chest as Kabuta folded into herself like a Kabuto to create a protective armor.  
  
Closing his eyes, several gigantic branches of electricity escaped Pikablu's body as he sent all his electricity flying towards Rayquaza with a massive lightning strike. Rayquaza was struck by the lightning and lit up in a large thunderbolt, roaring loudly as the explosive noise made those on the ground cover their ears.  
  
The brutal onslaught did not end there, Pikablu constantly sending more and more voltage into Rayquaza until it began losing height. Pikablu strained his every nerve as he kept the attack going, finally stopping himself when the last ounce of electricity left his body.   
  
Rayquaza's body had turned a shade darker, making it look as if it had been covered in soot. Bulging sores formed across its body, but they were too small to be seen by the others from such distance. Rayquaza attempted to remain airborne and recover, but the paralyzing effect from the thunderstrike proved to be too much as it crashed down on the ground, creating a mighty shockwave around the impact site.  
"Catch! Catch!" Lucas shouted as he hit Lucario repeatedly in the face with an Ultra Ball, "Pokeball, GO!"  
"Ouch! HEY! Stop it, or I'll bite your face off!" Lucario shouted, not caring whether the human could understand him or not.  
"Why aren't you being caught…!?" Lucas whimpered to himself before reaching down to his belt and pulling forward a can of spray, "Have a blast of repel!"  
"Blast of wh-" Lucario started, but was cut off as he was blinded by a dose of the spray. In an instant, his face felt as if it was being corroded by an acidic substance. Lucario's expression contorted in pain before he fell back, Lucas quickly rolling away from him and started running off into the distance.  
  
"So much for that…" Pikablu mumbled, seeing the trainer stop himself quite far away from them while still shaking from his attack.  
"OW! FUCK!" Kabuta yelled out with a wince, having transformed back to her regular form, "Right in the face!"  
"Tell me 'bout it…" the Gallade sighed, a new red mark having appeared on his cheek.  
"He's not screaming…" Zerobi muttered while thinking back to all the times he had failed to use the aura, "That's a good thing, right?"  
"… PAIN!" Lucario suddenly blurted out, using his hands to get the liquid off his face.  
"Come on, it's kind of pointless to let the trainer get away now" Pikablu said, and everyone moved towards where Lucario was lying. Zerobi ran extra quickly, making it there before the rest.  
"… You almost gave me a heart attack, you know?" Zerobi said while checking up on Lucario to make sure he was OK.  
"Like I said, I'll always pick the human opponent…" Lucario responded, the corrosive sensation subsiding.  
The two of them flinched as a gigantic emerald figure rose before them, positively dwarfing them. As intimidating as it had been from a distance, nothing could quite prepare them for the shock of seeing the hulking beast up close. The damage was showing on Rayquaza's body, but that did little to lessen their fear as it once again roared loudly.  
"Damn, it wasn't enough!" Zerobi shouted in a useless attempt to drown out the noise, grabbing a hold of the dazzled Lucario and running away from it.  
"Never intended for it to be" Pikablu replied confidently, "I had to use up all my electricity in order to go to the next level.   
  
Pikablu stared up into the rapidly darkening sky with a wide smile across his face.  
  
"Now, hold on to your asses!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "... ANY wish, you say?"
> 
> "Hihihi! Of course!"
> 
> "In that case... Grant me, Silver, IMMORTALITY!"
> 
> "..."
> 
> "..."
> 
> "... Sorry, I-I'm not sure on how to do that..."
> 
> "... LAME! You said ANY wish!"
> 
> "B-But your body has already started decaying! I can't turn back time!"
> 
> "Hmpf. Some wish-granter you turned out to be..."
> 
> "... I can protect you! Make sure that no one ever kills you!"
> 
> "Whatever, stop wasting my time."
> 
> "No, wait! Make another wish!"
> 
> "Alright. Give me money."
> 
> "..."
> 
> "..."
> 
> "... What's 'money', again?"
> 
> "That's it. I'm out of here."
> 
> "Wait wait wait! I'll grant your wish, as long as I know what it is!"
> 
> "What do you take me for, a sucker!? Like I'd really find the Legendary Jirachi out here! It's such an obvious prank!"
> 
> "B-But... I really AM Jirachi! I know I am!"
> 
> "For starters, you can talk to me! No Pokemon can talk!"
> 
> "B-But... I did it because you wished it!"
> 
> "...?"
> 
> "I-I can stop... If you wish it..."
> 
> "... 'Jirachi'... Or whatever you're called... I have a third wish."
> 
> "Great! What is it?"
> 
> "Here. Get into this Pokeball."
> 
> "...!"
> 
> "What's wrong?"
> 
> "... Celebi and Mew always told me to avoid those at any cost... That my life'd be over if I entered one..."
> 
> "Can't do it. Typical. See, if you actually WERE a Pokemon, it wouldn't have been a problem."
> 
> "Stop saying that! I am a Pokemon, Jirachi the wish granter! Let me grant your wish!
> 
> "I wish you'd leave me alone!"
> 
> "..."
> 
> "..."
> 
> "... Uh, save that one for later?"
> 
> "You're the worst wish granter ever! Beat it!"
> 
> "Make a better wish!"
> 
> "NOOOO! Stop following me!"


	14. Young Prodigy Lucas

"To cause so much damage to Rayquaza…" Lucas whispered to himself while examining the burns of his Pokémon's back, "… Surely it couldn't have been that Pikachu!" His right hand thumbed the trusty Pokedex in his right pocket, but stopped when he realized he already knew exactly what it was going to say.  
  
 _Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pichu. Pikachu's tail is sometimes struck by lightning as it raises it to check its surroundings._  
  
The familiar voice of the computer fills his head together with many questions. Checking the Pokémon in front of him he realized that the only one capable of such an electric attack would be the Pikachu.  
His thoughts were interrupted as a loud rumbling sounded above him. Looking up, he saw that the sky had been blotted out by several dark clouds that he was sure had not been there before.  
The term 'struck by lightning' echoed through his head, the ominous clouds and his trainer's intuition forcing him into action.  
  
"This looks bad…" Lucas whispered to himself as he decided to proceed with caution, "… Rayquaza! Use your Air Lock!" Rayquaza reared back and gave off a mighty roar, positioned between its trainer and the shaking quintet.  
"Damn it, I always forget the earplugs!" Lucario shouted angrily as his eyesight returned.  
Razyquaza roared loudly once more before sailing directly upward into the sky, leaving several confused Pokémon behind it. It moved at unbelievable speed for such a large body, reaching the clouds above it in a matter of seconds.  
  
"What's it doing…?" the Gallade asked as it disappeared among the dark clouds.  
"… Charging up now would be a bad idea, I think" Pikablu mumbled to himself, seeing only a faint figure of the massive snake among the clouds, "Everyone, get ready for the worst!"  
Everyone braced themselves for whatever attack might pop out of the ominous gathering of clouds above them. Some were expecting a massive hyper beam, others fearing that a giant tidal wave would appear out of nowhere.  
  
None of them were expecting that the clouds would suddenly start to fade away, Rayquaza becoming more apparent among them as it sat calmly in the sky.  
"What the…" Pikablu whispered to himself with an unfamiliar sensation creeping up his back. Something he once would have defined as 'Fear'.  
"Whew! I thought lightning was going to rain down, or something!" Zerobi said, sighing in relief.  
"… Crap!" Pikablu shouted as Rayquaza showed no signs of leaving its spot up in the sky, "This is bad! I used up all my electricity, and I can't recharge if there's no lightning!"  
"Y-You can't use thunder!?" the Gallade stammered with surprise, "That's bad! Like, really, REALLY bad!"  
"Oh…" Zerobi mumbled to herself while remembering teachings relating to electric-types, "… Oh! You were the one summoning the clouds?"  
"Quick!" Pikablu yelled while turning himself towards Lucario and Zerobi, "You two, can you do something to knock Rayquaza out of the sky!?"  
"Hmm… Don't think I can jump that far" Lucario said slowly while pondering and scratching his chin, "… Or hit that hard. So no, probably not."  
"Well, guess what!" Pikablu continued with rage, "Until Rayquaza cuts that out I won't be able to use 50%, I won't be able to use any electric attacks, I won't even be able to recharge a damn battery! Find a way to fix it, or fight this moron by yourself!"  
  
"Hmpf…" Lucario huffed with a sinister smile while smacking his fists together, "That's all? Sounds perfect to me!"  
"Yeah, cool it down a bit" Zerobi said and scratched her left ear, "Dunno what that trainer's got down his pants, but as long as it's not another Rayquaza we'll be able to kick their butts by ourselves."  
"Hey! I'm in on it, too!" Kabuta jumped in with a confident voice, "Hell, we're all in on it! I didn't come all the way here to not fight, anyway!"  
  
Lucas saw the odd gathering of Pokémon conversing with one another, most likely figuring out a strategy for defeating him. Pokémon strategizing and cooperating were rare, but not unheard of. He wasn't sure exactly what he had done to garnish such hatred from them, enough to have them attack something as large as Rayquaza just to get to him.  
Knowing that Rayquaza was out of commission, Lucas removed a Pokeball from his belt. His trusted Tremor would have the type advantage against two of them, and probably be more than enough for the rest as well. Even so, he thought it would be a good chance for him to train some of his weaker Pokémon, as well as the extremely rare specimen he just recently caught…  
  
"… Fine. I'm putting my trust in you guys" Pikablu said begrudgingly, rapidly trying to come up with a battle plan beyond the usual 'lightning them until they fall'. It wasn't going good, since he had so little experience in the subject.  
"… Is everyone ready?" he finally said, at a loss for words.  
"I was born ready!" Kabuta shouted confidently, striking a battle pose with outstretched scythes.  
"You were born kicking and screaming" the Gallade snickered while getting himself in position as well.  
"You wouldn't know!" Kabuta snapped back, an image of a Gallade passed out on a bed flashing through her mind.  
"… I'll take that as a yes" Pikablu groaned before turning his head towards the Lucario and Weavile, "You two… Are you ready, too?"  
"I personally became ready during adolescence" Lucario responded with a chirp, "… Maybe a bit later… Doesn't matter now, I guess…"  
"Hearing these guys talk, I'm as ready as I'll ever be" Zerobi sighed while carefully slapping her forehead, "Although for the record, I'd prefer _not_ dying and winning instead!"  
"Alright" Pikablu grumbled and gritted his teeth while crossing his arms in a very manly way, "Let's beat 'em up."  
  
As if on cue, Lucas threw a Pokeball into the air, followed by two others. A thick red light escaped the balls as they opened, three strange creatures forming in their wake. A blue Pokémon on two legs with two large fins sticking out of its arms was the first one to appear, directly in front of Lucas. The red color of the Pokeball never quite left its inhabitant, a humanoid creature that looked like a cross between a lobster and a dragonfly with both pincers and wings appearing to the left of the trainer.  
  
The quintet's eyes mostly ignored these two and instantly hit his right, where the red light had grown to incredible proportions. As it disappeared, it left a truly gigantic Pokémon behind it. It was almost as large as Rayquaza, and its body was much like the finned creature's in shape, but much bulkier than either. Spikes protruded from its back and tail, and the body had a weak green color covering most of it.  
  
"A… A Tyranitar!?" Pikablu stuttered as his eyes shot open, "Damn it, why's everything going against me today!?"  
"So THAT's how he got Celebi!" the Gallade said while putting his arms together, "It's a Dark-type so I can't sense its strength, but I think it's pretty obvious…"  
"Alright, I know who I'm NOT fighting" Lucario spoke clearly before looking over at the lobster humanoid, "Dibs on the bug-thingie."  
"No! The Scizor's mine!" Kabuta shouted with a barely visible smile, "I've been swatting Scyther since I was clinging on to pops' back!"  
"Damn it, I want to fight something human for once!" Lucario burst out as the stress started getting to him, "You take that landshark or whatever the hell it is!"  
"Nope!" Kabuta repeated, her neck suddenly extending slightly to strengthen her determination in the matter.  
"And you!" Lucario kept going while pointing at Pikablu, "What, you're just not gonna fight at all!? Are you a mouse or a man!?"  
"That thing's a Dark and Ground type, so that counts out Pikablu and me" the Gallade calmly pointed out while shaking his head slowly, "We won't even be able to scratch it…"  
  
"Alright, here's the deal" Pikablu said, finished with his planning, "Kabuta, go for the Scizor. Cut him up fast. The Garchomp will be troublesome, but nothing compared to the Tyranitar…"  
"Oh! I'll take that one!" the Gallade shouted happily as he sent a vicious glare to the Garchomp, "It'll be a pleasure to knock the ugly out of it!"  
"… Anyway, we'll obviously have to leave the Tyranitar to Zerobi…" Pikablu continued.  
"Wait, what?" Zerobi gasped, "Are you mad!? I can't fight something that big!"  
"We don't have a choice!" Pikablu said with determination, "You're a Dark and Ice type, you've got a better chance of beating it than any of us!"  
"I'm not cut out for that kind of enemy!" Zerobi clarified, "I'm fast and nimble! That thing's not going to budge even if I land a critical hit!"  
"Just dodge him, then!" Pikablu argued, "Keep him busy until we're done with our opponents, then we'll gang up on him!"  
They were interrupted as the three Pokémon finally started moving towards them. The Scizor was flying a few feet in the air while the Tyranitar was walking with long, slow steps that seemed to shake the ground beneath them. The Garchomp was the only one walking almost like a regular human despite its odd appearance.  
  
"Zerobi!" Lucario shouted to his shaking partner, "In case you haven't noticed, we're **all** in a tight spot here! It's time to man up!"  
"… Fine" Zerobi finally growled after looking over the Tyranitar carefully, "I can do that... Distract him, that is."  
"Still…" Pikablu mumbled hopefully, "This should be easy."  
"OK, exactly WHAT part of this looks like it's going to be easy!?" Lucario yelled angrily, the opposing three Pokémon picking up the pace.  
"We'll have an advantage" Pikablu quickly explained, "Three Pokémon, but only one trainer. He won't be able to direct more than one at a time."  
"Hey, Lucario" the Gallade said while giving him a tap on the shoulder, "Team up with me. Let's lay the beatdowns on the Garchomp and defeat it quickly!"  
"… Which one's the Garchomp?" Lucario asked, seeing that the Scizor was moving a bit ahead of the others.  
"The ugly one" the Gallade said.  
"Gonna have to be a bit more specific, there…" Lucario replied.  
"Wait!" Pikablu suddenly shouted as a thought hit him, "I've got an idea!"   
"Too late!" Zerobi shouted back, as their enemies were already upon them. She ran as fast as she could towards the hulking beast behind the others, while Kabuta ran next to her to get to the Scizor. Lucario headed towards the the Garchomp, and the Gallade was about to follow him when suddenly something grabbed a hold of his arm to stop him.  
  
"Get over here!" Pikablu growled with a gruff voice while pulling back the surprised Gallade, "Quick! Use that sissy electric grab on me!"  
"… The electrifying Fish Dive?" the Gallade asked, instantly forgetting his obligations to Lucario, "Oh, you mean as a substitute for the lightning?"  
"Your wimpy electricity isn't enough to activate 50%!" Pikablu said with annoyance, "I'm completely empty, give me SOME electricity so I can use 25%!"  
"Uh… 25% only boosts your speed, right?" the Gallade mumbled while looking at the gigantic Tyranitar and tough looking Garchomp behind him, "You sure it'll help?"  
"Whatever!" Pikablu exclaimed while throwing his arms up into the air, "I'm not sitting on the sidelines like a bloody cripple!"  
"… Right!" the Gallade said confidently as his elongated arms received a yellow glow, "Let me fill you up!"  
  
"Could you wait, like, a minute or two?" Lucario asked the Garchomp while looking back at a bolt of lightning suddenly appearing behind him, "My ally must've picked a fight with a mouse… And lost."  
"No" was all the Garchomp said with a wheezy voice before lying herself down on her stomach.  
"… I get it!" Lucario exclaimed, "You're one of those opposite-types! That say one thing but mean ano…"  
Lucario stopped himself as the Garchomp began twisting her body around, slowly sinking into the ground with strands of grass and dirt flying all around her. He gasped as only the dorsal fin of stuck out from the grasslands, about to make another witty remark as she started diving down, disappearing completely as it dug deeper underground.  
"… There!" Lucario shouted to himself as he sensed the aura of his enemy rapidly approaching from underneath. He quickly jumped out of the way as the Garchomp burst through the ground, sending gravel flying in every direction.  
"Prepare for a nose dive!" Lucario shouted triumphantly as he leaped towards the Garchomp who was still oblivious to the fact that she had missed. Before Lucario could reach her, something hard struck his waist.  
"Brace yourself, dipshit!" Lucario heard Kabuta's brash voice yell from behind him as he turned around, seeing that the Scizor had rammed him in midair. It flew off about a meter before getting pelted by several sharp rocks. Having been thrown off course, Lucario was forced to give up on his attack as he slowly fell towards the ground, seeing the gigantic Tyranitar fire off a large black sphere in the distance.  
  
Zerobi spun around and leaped to the side as the gigantic stomp smashed down right next to her. The turmoil and disorientation of fighting a creature so large that it made her look like an insect did little to diminish her determination.  
"You clumsy oaf!" Zerobi shouted with glee, inhaling and then exhaling a freezing wind that froze the ground beneath them. Joy filled her heart as the Tyranitar began slipping on the ice, but shattered together with the ice as it brought down its massive foot once more.  
"How's this!?" Zerobi yelled, again blowing a cloud of chill aimed directly at the Tyranitar this time.  
"Tremor! Focus your Dark Pulse!" Lucas suddenly shouted, making Zerobi look his way. The Tyranitar reared back for a moment as the severe cold seemed to affect him, before suddenly spitting out a humongous ball of dark energy at Zerobi, who just barely managed to jump out of the way. Her heart was pounding loudly, instantly regretting having agreed to fight this monster. Her only hope was to wait until the others finished off their opponents, and she decided to take a quick peek at what was going on with them…  
  
"Come on, buzz some more!" Kabuta shouted while she bent over another nearby rock and cut it to pieces. The Scizor gulped audioably as Kabuta sent the sharp shrapnel flying in her direction. She tried to dive underneath them, but ended up getting struck by several of them before reaching Kabuta and punching her. To her surprise, Kabuta didn't even try to avoid the attack as the punch connected with her hard shell.  
"You ain't got nothin' on me!" Kabuta laughed mockingly as the Scizor settled in the air once more, "I'm a stonewall! Much harder than you'll ever be!" The Scizor had been able to ignore the Kabutops' trash talking at first, but as the insults became progressively worse she found herself involuntarily raging.  
"I said: Much harder than you'll ever be! Did you just deliver a baby from your earhole, or something!?" Kabuta laughed with a horrendously vicious voice, "I'm twice the man you'll ever be!"  
"You idiot!" the Scizor suddenly burst out, roaring with anguish, "I'm female, too!"  
"Explains why in a million years I wouldn't wanna be with ya!" Kabuta kept laughing with a mocking tone, "I thought it was just because you were grotesquely ugly!"  
"THAT'S IT!" the Scizor screamed furiously, landing on the ground and rushing towards Kabuta.   
"Sarah! No!" Lucas shouted as he saw what was happening, but it was too late. The Scizor struck Kabuta directly in the face with a powerful blow, but she barely even budged.  
"That hurt… Some" Kabuta admitted before throwing up her arms behind the Scizor, the scythes cutting up the wings on her back. The Scizor fell forward in shock as Kabuta leaned her head back.  
"Plenty enough for me share it with you" Kabuta said before headbutting the Scizor so hard that she stumbled backwards, her brain shaking to the point where she couldn't stand on her feet anymore as everything darkened before her vision.  
  
Meanwhile, the Gallade watched the many events unfold before him while Pikablu simply stood still with his eyes closed.  
"So, about that whole 'Not sitting on the sidelines' thing…" the Gallade mentioned with a somewhat amused tone.  
"… Shut up…" Pikablu growled, "I'm trying to make sense out of your stupid electricity…"  
"… It's just electricity, right?" the Gallade asked, used to having his electricity get the lowest grade from Pikablu whenever it was used.  
"A psychic type like you wouldn't understand…" Pikablu explained slowly, "… It's like having a stranger inside of you."  
"WHOA, WHOA!" the Gallade shouted while rearing back in terror, "THAT bad!? Sorry, man! I didn't-"  
"If you have time to bust my chops, how about YOU assist them for a bit?" Pikablu mumbled angrily, opening his eyes momentarily to stare down the Gallade.  
"I already am!" the Gallade responded cheerfully. Meanwhile, Lucario was about to be struck in the abdomen with one of the Garcomp's fins when a transparent wall of pinkish hue appeared between them, repelling the attack.  
"Just so you know!" the Gallade shouted smugly, "If she aims for the face, I'm letting it through!" He was fully expecting another one of Lucario's witty comebacks, and felt just a little disappointed as Lucario jumped back from the Garchomp while seemingly ignoring him.  
  
"T-Time out!" Lucario stammered between heavy gasps, "I n-need to c-catch…" The Garchomp moved closer and suddenly rammed him with her shoulder, sending him flying away from the powerful blow.  
"Grace! Use Fire Fang!" Lucas yelled, breaking contact with the ongoing fight between Zerobi and tremors as well as Kabuta and Sarah. Lucario knew fully well what was coming when he saw tiny sparks appear in the Garchomps mouth, gnashing her teeth together in a menacing manner.  
"T-This is bad...!" Lucario stuttered before shouting at the Gallade, "Can I get some help with this reverse Lucario!?"  
"Reverse… What?" the Gallade asked after running up to him, away from the preparing Pikablu.  
"Yeah! I figured it all out!" Lucario explained with faint signs of insanity in his eyes, "See, it has got fins instead of spikes, and they're sticking out of his arms and back instead of hands and chest!"  
"First of all, it's female" the Gallade said while the previous comment easily slipped through his mind while barely leaving a dent, "Second of all… What the hell did you just say?"  
"Just an observation" Lucario said, "Here's another - We're going to have to deal with fire very soon."  
"Hmm… Play with fire, and…" the Gallade mumbled as he recalled something, "… Oh wait, you're the one who told me that, right?"  
"SARAH! RETURN!" a voice suddenly sounded from behind the Garchomp, a red beam striking the Scizor and returning it to the Pokeball in Lucas' hand.  
  
"Hahahah!" Kabuta laughed triumphantly, "You fell for it! I was just pretending to be a jerk to get you to attack recklessly!"  
"… And here I thought Kabutops were super rare…" Lucas whispered sadly while pulling out a new Pokeball from his belt, "Let's have a battle of the fossils!" Without hesitation he threw it into the air, making it open up and bringing yet another Pokémon into the battle. Lucario peeked over to Kabuta to see what kind of Pokémon it was, but had to scratch his eyes as thought he was seeing double.  
"… Kabuta…?" Kabutops asked silently, surprised to all of a sudden be seeing his daughter in front of him.  
"Kabutops!" both Pikablu and the Gallade shouted out loud, instantly recognizing their old friend.  
"P-Pops!" Kabuta stammered in shock and relief, "Don't worry, we'll have this wrapped up in no time!"  
Kabutops stood quiet for a long time, looking around him. He was a bit dazed from having spent so much time in the Pokeball, but having dealt with the massive disorientation of skipping a centure or two he was able to get a grasp of the situation quickly enough.  
  
"… Pikablu…" Kabutops said questioningly with hidden menace in his voice, "… Why is my only daughter fighting against a trainer strong enough to possess Rayquaza and defeat Celebi…?"  
"Didn't know about that! Honestly!" Pikablu explained while trying to defend himself, "She was burning with determination, wanting to avenge you and Yakushi! Who was I to turn her down!?"  
"Yakushi…" Kabutops repeated as a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes, "… Did he make it?"  
"He's a bit hurt, nothing to worry about!" the Gallade laughed, "We're here to save you! Just stay put and we'll set you free!  
"… Stay put…?" Kabutops mumbled to himself before brandishing his scythes, "… I don't think so…" His heart started pounding faster as he let off a deep primal growl, feeling himself become lost in a feral rampage. Shooting out a stream of water from his front, he flew backwards heading directly towards his trainer like a propelled jet.  
"Y-YIKES!" Lucas stammered before quickly shooting a red line at the approaching Pokémon, "Kabutops, return!" Kabutops was hit by the beam and turned into a red light, which continued in its path towards Lucas and went past his neck before disappearing.  
"Haaah…" Lucas exhaled deeply, almost falling to his knees in shock, "I hate using untrained Pokémon in battle…"  
"Hey!" Kabuta yelled angrily while staring at the trainer, "You'll pay for what you did to p-"  
"YOU THREE DONE WITH THAT YET!?" Lucario bellowed loudly and interrupted her, "Do something! He's gonna kill her!"  
  
The trio snapped out of their daze and turned towards Lucario. He was holding back the Garchomp's large fangs with his bare hands, bending backwards from the pressure and barely being able to stand his ground. Some of the fur on the left side of his torso had been burned off. More importantly, he was looking feverishly to his right, where the Tyranitar stood tall over a wounded Zerobi. She was crouched down to her knees, blood dripping down from her forehead.  
  
"Gah…!" Zerobi coughed. She needed a moment to wipe the blood away from her eyes, but knew that the Tyranitar would strike the instant one of her hands left the ground. She winced as the thick fluid ran past her eyes, her vision turning hazy and red which reminded her of her blood induced haze from so many years ago. Looking up at the monster's head made it so much worse, as the blood was pouring into her sockets like it was a bucket. She tried her best to see what the Pokémon in front of her had planned, but finally looked down to get rid of the blood and was unable to notice the Tyranitar charging up yet another Dark Pulse.  
  
A yellow flash of lightning passed her by, moving with a zig-zag motion on the ground before suddenly curving upwards. It hit the Tyranitar's jaw, forcing his mouth shut as the Dark Pulse to a stop as he reared his head back once more. Everyone stared at the peculiar scene as the bolt of lightning bounced back from the Tyranitar and landed a few paces away from the stunned Zerobi, a small shockwave of electricity appearing around it.  
  
"I'm back, baby" Pikablu said confidently as the aura of lightning surrounding him slowly dissipated, and the hopes of victory for the quintet was regained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "... And that's my plan. What do you think?"
> 
> "That... A-Are you serious!"
> 
> "Deadly."
> 
> "... I should have seen this coming long ago... Ever since those humans..."
> 
> "I'll take your mumbling as a 'yes'. You'll start out as a lower ranked officer of course, but keep at it and you'll make general in no time!"
> 
> "... Such arrogance! Where the hell is your confidence coming from!"
> 
> "I spend the day defeating viscous monsters with my bare hands and sleep with many beautiful women at night. What do you think?"
> 
> "... I think this is a horrifying idea, and I am aghast that came to me about it."
> 
> "You're strong. You know that they'll be coming for you, too."
> 
> "... I am strong, but I bear no resentment towards humans. Leave."
> 
> "Listen, you can either join me or die at my hands..."
> 
> "...!"
> 
> "... Is what those humans are going to tell you when they get here. If even that..."
> 
> "..."
> 
> "Me? I'm offering you a chance. One shot a glory, a triumphant fight for justice against this oppressing society!"
> 
> "... And what if I refuse?"
> 
> "Matters little, quite frankly. Even if you are too lazy to do anything for your brethren, there will never be a shortage of those that aren't."
> 
> "Hmpf. I think you will be quite surprised at how many would label this insanity as... Well, insanity."
> 
> "To a revolutionary, 'insanity' is but another badge of honor created by one's enemies!"
> 
> "... If someone like you were to take advantage of this situation, there is no telling what might happen... The entire world might..."
> 
> "The entire world WILL, my friend! This is the ultimate opportunity for change!
> 
> "In that case... If I cannot persuade your evil with words, I must stop you by force!"
> 
> "... Come on. Don't. It'll just be embarrassing."
> 
> "Before your rise to power... Before the slaughter of a thousand innocent... Before your detrimental dictatorship... I will end it all here and now!"
> 
> "End? Perhaps! It's the end... One that will be followed by yet another beginning! HAH!"
> 
> "G-Gah...!"
> 
> "... But not for you, it seems..."


	15. Legendary Thunder Pikablu

The ongoing battle between Lucario and the Garchomp came to an abrupt stop as both the combatants stared at Pikablu, trying to comprehend what had just happened.  
  
"Holy sh…" Lucario whispered in disbelief, "That speed's unnatural!" It reminded him of a passing train, but with perfect coordination and much smaller size.  
"It's called 25%, a technique he uses to…" the Gallade started explaining, but stopped himself, "… Actually, I should keep it a secret in case we need to use it to beat you up later."  
"Still mad?" Lucario asked mockingly, feeling a bit more confident since Pikablu was on their side.  
"You've seen better days, by the way" the Gallade chirped while looking over the burnt off fur on Lucario's left chest and shoulder, "Need any backup?"  
"Nah" Lucario replied cockily, his confidence growing to match his pride, "This one's slow and predictable, I'll have this wrapped up in a few minutes… I've totally got this."  
  
"You…" the Tyranitar finally said, speaking with an unexpectedly light and low voice, "… What are you…?"  
"In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have wasted all my electricity by going for 50% right away…" Pikablu said menacingly as the aura of lightning appeared and surrounded him once again, "… And in retrospect, you probably should have surrendered five seconds ago."  
  
A trail of electricity followed Pikablu as he approached the Tyranitar at blinding speed. The giant beast remained still, not flinching the slightest while taking several hits from Pikablu across the lower parts of its body.  
"… Weak…" the giant beast said, Pikablu running several meters away from it before suddenly launching back like a slingshot, ramming the back of the Tyranitar's left leg. He stifled a shocked noise as his leg bent itself, forcing him to land on his right knee for support.  
  
The moment the knee touched the ground, Pikablu ran up the body of the Tyranitar like an arrow of lightning and headbutted his chin. The blow was so hard that the Tyranitar tipped over and fell back, Pikablu soaring up into the sky before landing behind him.  
  
"Skin's tough, all right…" Pikablu scoffed while spitting on the ground, "Let's see if your eyeballs are the same."  
Pikablu charged himself up by taking a step back, but his valiant dash towards the Tyranitar was abruptly halted as the electricity surrounding him suddenly disappeared, making him trip and land on his face.  
  
"… Oh hell… Already out of electricity…" he mumbled with an embarrassed tone as he rose to his feet and looked back at the Gallade, "Your voltage's pathetic!"  
"Hey, I'm not even supposed to have ANY voltage!" the psychic type responded, "Why don't you just hit that Tyranitar with an Aura Sphere or something else you can't do?" The familiar term made something click in Lucario's head as he pondered trying to use it once more. The pondering was cut short when he looked over the Garchomp and understood just how badly he would get beaten if it failed this time.  
"Can't risk it..." he whispered to himself, the Garchomp seemingly preoccupied with staring at Pikablu with surprise.  
  
Lucas exhaled a large amount of stressed air now that the Pikachu's unexpected attack had ceased. He started wondering if the strong being was a legendary Pokémon in disguise, but had to stop himself when he noticed that there was a more pressing matter at hand.  
  
"A Weavile… Dark and Ice…" Lucas whispered to himself while looking at Zerobi, fingering his Pokedex once more without actually using it, almost as if he was draining the knowledge out of it. He realized that out of his three remaining Pokémon, two were extremely weak against this particular duo of types, and the third wasn't a prime candidate either.  
  
However, a wave of relief washed over him just as he realized exactly who his remaining Pokémon was.  
  
"It's time…" Lucas said, pulling out a very large Pokeball in the colors of white and black, "I'm counting on you, Celebi!" Instead of throwing this Pokeball, he held it between his two hands and somehow managed to open it, a green light leaking out of it and enveloping itself into a circle in the middle of the air.  
  
The green light faded, but was replaced by an even more radiant one from the being underneath. Instantly reminding them all of a blooming sapling, she was small and had a simple form, but every inch of her being seemed to be a work of art and purity. Zerobi and Lucario were both positively stunned, while Pikablu genuinely smiled for the first time in forever at the familiar sensation.  
  
As if someone had released a cloud of endomorphines into the air, everyone in the area suddenly started feeling a notch better than earlier. Lucario's burnt torso stopped aching, Pikablu's torn muscles were put under less pressure and Zerobi had something to think about besides her bleeding forehead.  
  
"W-What an insane presence…!" Lucario whispered to himself, stifling a gasp when Celebi slowly moved the eyelids covering up her beautiful sapphire eyes, so deep and that he did not even know how to stop himself from becoming lost within them.  
  
Zerobi was unaffected by the whole ordeal, but could not help but notice just how much of an impact it had on the rest. It struck her more on a mental level, recognizing the legendary being from the many fan arts she had seen in her occult magazines. No matter how vibrantly they had been painted, she felt that they did not do the actual creature even a hint of justice.  
  
Celebi viewed the area with a surprised look on her face, remaining completely stationary in midair save for some subtle floating movements.  
"Celebi!" Pikablu shouted happily, making her look at him with her calm sapphire eyes. Their eyes locked for a few moments as Pikablu awaited some kind of response, but was given none.  
"We're here to save you, and that Weavile over there…" Pikablu continued while nodding over in Zerobi's direction, "… Claims to be your sister, Zerobi!"  
"I… I never said I was her sister!" Zerobi corrected Pikablu, not wanting to anger the magnificent legendary in front of her with dishonesty, "I'm just named Zerobi, and never knew my biological parents…"  
She felt a bit disappointed as Celebi looked at her for but a second before looking away in another direction.  
  
"Hey…" the Gallade mumbled while looking at the silent yet curious Celebi, "… Is she alright?"  
Celebi stared spookily at him with a dazed expression, as if she had no idea of what was happening.  
"Celebi!" Lucas shouted while pointing determinedly at Zerobi, "Use your Miracle Eye on the Weavile!"  
  
Celebi looked back at her trainer, then slowly followed his hand and fastened her eyes on Zerobi who got nothing but an ominous feeling from the whole situation. Celebi blinked once before strange multi-colored lines suddenly appeared around her, almost making the whole thing look like a shoddy drawing.  
  
"What the… It's the Miracle Eye!" the Gallade shouted in disbelief, "Something's wrong, alright!"  
"Celebi! It's us!" Pikablu shouted while needlessly pointing to himself, "Your friends! Your sister! And some Lucario who's not half bad!"  
"She doesn't recognize us!?" Kabuta yelled with confusion, "But… Being brainwashed by a Pokeball… I thought it was just some urban legend!"  
  
"… Crap!" Pikablu exclaimed angrily before turning his head to his left, "Zerobi, run!"  
"Don't worry, I'm a Dark-type!" Zerobi replied with faked confidence, "No matter how strong, I'm completely immune to-"  
"That's the Miracle Eye, it'll make you vulnerable to psychic attacks!" the Gallade explained as the lines around Celebi started spinning around and twisting themselves in inexplicable motions, "If that one gets you, it's all over! She'll toss you around like a ragdoll!"  
"YOU DIRTY @%#! YOU DIRTY @%#!" Pikablu repeated loudly and desperately, "@%#! @%#!"  
"Dude, what the hell?" Lucario asked with a disgusted look, completely snapping out of his pleasurable trance, "How's that going to help?"  
"Damn it, I'm trying to jog her memory!" Pikablu shouted back while clenching his fists in despair, "This can't be… What's happened to her!?"  
"W-We're not fighting Cell, are we…!?" Kabuta stammered, the pleasurable emotions from earlier being replaced by sheer terror, "Oh, man… This is bad…"  
  
A loud noise from Celebi signaled that the attack was finished, the lines coiling themselves behind her like snakes ready to strike at their target. Celebi's emotionless face was telling them nothing of what she might be thinking.  
  
"How do I dodge it!?" Zerobi yelled while being taken aback by the strange nature of the attack.  
"Too late! Here it comes!" Pikablu shouted, hating himself for being able to do nothing to prevent the rapidly approaching tragedy.  
  
The lines all left Celebi in an instant, shooting through the air like colorful laser beams. Zerobi did not even have time to blink as the beams curved around and raced towards her, aiming directly for the open wound on her forehead before passing over it. Everyone gasped collectively as the beams instead kept going, instead hitting the Tyranitar behind her.  
The Tyranitar took a step back in surprise, glowing in various colors as the beams remained connected with him and seemed to fill him with their energy.  
  
"I… I feel it!" Lucario suddenly shouted as a familiar sensation came upon him, "That thing's getting an aura!"  
He then almost choked on his own spit as the gigantic Tyranitar lifted off the ground, quickly boosting up through the air like a rocket.  
"Not again!" Lucas yelled with shock before shaking the black Pokeball in his hands, "Celebi, come on! Return!"  
The recall was instantaneous, the green beam hitting Celebi in the back before anyone could react. However, the moment before transforming into the green light, Zerobi could've sworn that Celebi turned her head and looked at her with a warm smile on her face.  
  
"Oh, crap…" Lucas whispered to himself as looked up and realized his mistake. Like a meteor from outer space, the Tyranitar had entered the lower parts of the stratosphere and was ready for a hasty crash landing. Lucas fumbled with finding space for the large Pokeball in his hands while trying to locate the right one to recall his Pokémon, but couldn't do it in time.  
  
The Tyranitar smashed into the ground, crushing several layers of dirt and creating a massive hole where it landed. The ground shook with an extremely loud crash, but even so the sound wasn't enough to drown out the collective cheering from the quintet.  
  
"EAT DIRT!" Lucario yelled triumphantly.  
"SUCK ON THAT!" Zerobi shouted happily.  
"HAHAHA! YOU'RE THE BEST, CELL!" the Gallade laughed, clutching his sides.  
"Celebi…" Pikablu mumbled while smiling to himself, "… Pretty awesome display, right there..."  
"Lucario! She looked at me!" Zerobi said cheerfully while looking at her friend, "That was Celebi, and she totally smiled when she looked at me!"  
"Maybe she was actually aiming for you and just missed?" Lucario pointed out, making Zerobi visibly cringe.  
"Don't be a jerk" Pikablu chuckled, "Celebi's on our side. Also, clever."  
  
Meanwhile, Lucas' patience was rapidly running out. Both of his newly caught Pokémon had instantly turned on him, making him feel less secure of victory as well as his capabilities as a trainer.  
  
"Rayquaza!" he shouted with all his might up into the air, "Cancel the Air Lock! Come down here and finish them off! Garchomp, take out the Lucario as quickly as possible!"  
"Uh… Oh cr-" Lucario started, but was interrupted as he dodged a tiny explosion of fire to his right, formed by the mouth of the advancing Garchomp.  
"… Finally" Pikablu said with relief as the darkened clouds above them started appearing again, "All of you, get down. Leave everything to me." The Gallade and Kabuta instantly hit the deck, leaving Zerobi standing in confusion.  
"He's not kidding, you know!" the Gallade yelled which made Zerobi reluctantly lie down, not wanting to get involuntarily tackled and groped again. Rayquaza landed on the ground, roaring with all its might as Lucas thanked his earplugs and recalled his trusted Tremor into a Pokeball.  
  
A flash suddenly filled everyone's vision as lightning came down from the heavens above and struck Pikablu. Lucas felt all his fears become confirmed when a spiky blue aura of electricity ran around Pikablu, stray bolts of lightning flying in every direction.  
  
"GRAAAH!" Pikablu screamed loudly, suddenly shooting out a great wall of thunder at Rayquaza who coiled itself up to braced itself as best it could. Pikablu did not wait for confirmation of a hit before also throwing a massive pillar of light in its direction, as well as several streams of lightning of varying size.  
  
When it was over, Rayquaza was still coiled up, seemingly unharmed by the attack. Pikablu drew a heavy sigh, smiling while the serpent tried one last time to raise it upper body but instead toppled over and landed on the ground, no longer mobile.  
  
"R-R-R-R…" Lucas stammered in shock over what had just happened, "R-RAYQUAZA! No way!"  
"It's over" Pikablu snickered confidently, "Let's finish this. Line 'em up, I'll knock them out."  
"Oh… Oh my…!" Zerobi stammered in shock, looking up from her lying position.  
"Yeah, that's right! Behold!" Pikablu yelled triumphantly, "This is the power that six years ago overwhelmed even the Legendary Celebi! You think YOU'VE got a chance, loser!?"  
"Lucario!" Zerobi suddenly yelled while standing up, shattering Pikablu's triumphant moment. Their eyes turned over to the Garchomp who was standing over the defeated mess that was a crouched over Lucario, now missing fur with reddened diseased-looking skin showing through all over his body. One of his eyes were closed, a particularly nasty burn covering the left side of his face.  
  
"… Guys…" he whimpered pathetically while trying to raise himself with his arms, "… I don't got this…"  
"Stand up" the Garchomp growled with a deep, cold voice before moving closer.  
"L… Lucario!" Kabuta yelled with a terrified voice, seeing several scars all over Lucario that she hadn't noticed before, "What the hell happened!?"  
"T-This thing's a bloody monster, that's what happened!" Lucario responded with a shaky tone, "I roundhouse kick it in the head three times, and it doesn't even give a damn!"  
  
Meanwhile, Lucas could feel himself trembling. Never would he have imagined that Rayquaza could be defeated so easily, and by a wild Pikachu no less! Years of training Pokémon told him that it was simply not possible, at the very least not natural.  
For a moment he analyzed the Pikachu's actions so far, and in a split second remembered another particularly powerful Pikachu he had come upon during his travels. He also remembered the one thing that the other Pikachu had despised more than anything else, and finally came up with a possible solution that would bring him victory.  
  
"Worth a try…!" Lucas mumbled while signaling for his Pokémon, "Grace! Come here, I've got an item for you!"  
"Don't bother, it won't have time to use it" Pikablu said sinisterly, "Unless it's a Focus Band… Which just means more fun for me!"  
The Garchomp moved back to her trainer who took a small object out of his backpack. Skillfully attaching a string to it, he climbed up the Garchomp's back.  
"You're doing great…" Lucas said with a reassuring voice while putting the string around her throat, "… But leave the Lucario alone from now on. It's down for the count."  
Lucas finished tying the item around the Garchomp's neck and gave her a pat on the head.  
"I know I can trust you, girl…" he told her as he jumped down, "We've been through worse together. Remember, I'm behind you all the way!" The garchomp gave off a low growl, something like a smile appearing on her face.  
"Hah! Not unless you want to get charred, too!" Pikablu laughed, but his own smile quickly faded when he saw what item the Garchomp had been equipped with.  
  
A Thunderstone.  
  
"… That's…" Pikablu muttered, once more feeling his heart and hopes sink, "… Oh shit…"  
"What?" the Gallade asked, recognizing the hopeless tone in his voice all too well, "Damn it, stop sounding so pessimistic!"  
"… I'm out" Pikablu muttered before shouting at the Gallade and Kabuta, "You two! Get ready to fight!"  
"OUT!?" Zerobi shouted, "Explanation, please!"  
"If I get near that stone, I'll evolve into a Raichu" Pikablu explained with his eyes firmly closed, "My worst nightmare aside, I won't be able to use 25% or any of that stuff anymore… Ever."  
"Why!?" Zerobi asked hopelessly as a thought hit her, "Does it matter!? Just hit it with lightning from a distance!"  
"As a Raichu my electricity will be stored in my tail, and maybe even become stronger…" Pikablu said while thinking to himself, "… But that won't matter. It's a Ground-type, so thunder doesn't affect it, anyway."  
  
"Whatever" Kabuta said while shrugging her shoulders and trying to act cool, "We'll show this idiot what happens when you pick on Lucario!"  
"Yeaaah!" the Gallade chimed in cheerfully, "Except for the Lucario thing! I don't care! But you do! So YEAAAH anyway!"  
"Hmm…" she muttered as she saw Lucario collapse on the ground from exhaustion, "Let's hurry!"  
"No, like, seriously, why do you even give a crap?" the Gallade asked curiously, "Don't tell me… You actually like him!?"  
"He's got you beaten out by fifty million points in my 'like' department" Kabuta replied sarcastically, "... And no, that still doesn't mean that I like him."  
"So you say…" the Gallade said, trying to think of the most infuriating thing he could tease her with, "… Hah! But it's obvious that you're in love!"  
"W-WHAT!?" Kabuta stammered angrily as she was at a loss for words, "Shut your mouth! Shut it 'bout things you don't know nothing 'bout…"  
  
The two of them walked towards the Garchomp, Lucario still not having been able to rise to his feet. The Garchomp walked towards them as well, and Lucario cowered as she was upon him. But instead of kicking him when he was down, she just walked past him, completely focused on the two enemies in front of her.  
  
"So, yeah, you hold her off while I charge up" the Gallade said while taking several steps back, "Then I hit her with my best shot, we celebrate, you can be together with your love, Pikablu with his… And Kabutops too, I guess."  
"I'll hold her off for sure" Kabuta responded confidently, extracting what little value she could find in what he had just said, "I'm a stonewall, after all." They both felt surprisingly calm as the Garchomp approached.  
"By 'love', I don't mean your dad, by the way" the Gallade added, hoping to get Kabuta raging for the fight.  
"Shut the hell up!" Kabuta roared with a fire igniting in her eyes, showing the Gallade that his mission was a success, "Graah! Come over here already, I'm pissed and I'm gonna kill you!"  
"Grace! Use Crunch!" Lucas suddenly yelled, making the Garchomp leap towards them. Kabuta jumped in front of her with scythes outstretched, ready to absorb the blow. The supposed tackle canceled itself, the Garchomp instead using her massive fangs to grab a hold of Kabuta's right arm.  
  
"Kuh…!" Kabuta growled as her arm was put under crushing pressure. The jaws of the Garchomp provided her with more pain than anything she had ever felt before. She did her best to remain tough and not scream.  
That's when the Garchomp started twisting her head around.  
  
"G… GAAAHHH!" Kabuta screamed as she felt the bones in her arm loosen from their sockets with each powerful pull.  
"K-Kabuta!" the Gallade stammered frightfully, the glow around his arms growing stronger as his attack charged up.  
"MY ARM'S BEING PULLED OFF!" Kabuta cried loudly, trying to knock off the Garchomp but not even being able to make her budge. Instead, the Garchomp picked Kabuta off the ground with her hands, increasing the pull on Kabuta's arm.  
"Do something, for crying out loud!" Pikablu roared at the Gallade, who instantly ran up to the Garchomp with brutal uninhibited steps instead of his usual dance-like maneuvers.  
  
On his way there, he saw the defeated Lucario creeping up behind the Garchomp, before suddenly climbing up her back in a clunky motion. She noticed this and started twisting harder to get him off, only causing Kabuta to scream louder.  
"Aura…" Lucario mumbled to himself as he pressed as much of his body as possible against the violently rocking Garchomp, "… EXPLOSION!"  
He closed his eyes, expecting to be met by the most painful experience in his life, but was instead met by both disappointment and slight relief as nothing happened. The sensation for activating the aura was within him, but for some inexplicable reason he simply could not get it moving.  
"Oh, you useless piece of bod-" Lucario groaned, his arms failing him as a particularly powerful motion from the Garchomp tossed him in front of her, making him crash down on the ground where he remained still.  
  
A loud snap was suddenly heard from Kabuta's arm, making her stop crying as a sinister smirk formed by the sides of the Garchomp's open mouth. Kabuta stared up into the sky in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She fainted, her left arm falling by her side and her right scythe falling down on the ground beneath her.  
  
A single explosion of blood sprayed the two of them from the open wound, dripping down their bodies. The Gallade roared madly in an uncharacteristic move, crossing his arms in the shape of an X as he approached the Garchomp with a speed comparable to Pikablu's 25%. She dropped Kabuta and moved her head back in surprise as the Gallade made a small leap, striking her directly on the throat with his glowing arms, flames erupting from where the blow connected and engulfing her head in fire.  
The Gallade did not even have time to land before the Garchomp's head came back, headbutting him so hard that he flew back and landed on the barely conscious body of Lucario.  
  
"H… Ha… Ha ha ha…" the Gallade snickered weakly with a very dazed mind, "Strong against… Fire, huh…?"  
He coughed a bit before looking over at Kabuta, her right arm missing and the grass around her having turned red. With a faint glimmer of hope, he looked up to see if his attack had destroyed the rope holding the Thunderstone around her neck, but saw that it was still as intact as ever.  
"Sorry, Kabutops… You were right…" the Gallade mumbled sadly while looking at the dismembered Pokémon in front of him, "In the end, I'm nothing but a failure…"  
  
"Grace! Be more careful!" Lucas yelled out, relived that he was finally winning but still disgusted at what he had just seen, "There's a limit to how much the Pokecenter can do!"  
"Zerobi!" Pikablu yelled accusingly, "What the hell are you playing at!? That thing's extremely weak against Ice!"  
"B-But…" Zerobi stammered, shaking a little as the horrific display reminded her a little too much of her own past, "… She's so strong!"  
"SHUT UP!" Pikablu roared, exploding into a frighteningly large aura of lightning, "My niece just got her arm pulled off, my best friend is about to die and there ain't nothing I can go about it! You wanna trade places!?"  
"… Yes?" Zerobi asked hopefully before sighing and shaking the cowardly thoughts from her mind, "Alright, damn it, I'll see what I can do!"  
  
Not wasting another moment, she ran towards the Garchomp at high speed, flinching as she noticed that the Garchomp was positively covered in Kabuta's blood.  
"Pretty clumsy way of dismembering someone, if I say so myself…" she said in an attempt to make herself seem confident instead of deathly afraid, "A clean cut doesn't leave as much of a mess."  
However, the Garchomp responded only with silence as she lounged at Zerobi, jumping over the bodies of Kabuta, Lucario and the Gallade.  
  
"You ARE slow…" Zerobi admitted, exhaling a cloud of cold at her. The Garchomp felt a freezing sensation hit her side before suddenly noticing that she was slowing down, the cold covering her entire body like a shell of ice and reaching into her very bones like the coldest winter's night.  
  
"Too easy!" Pikablu shouted triumphantly, "Cut 'er open and finish it off!"  
"… I can't!" Zerobi shouted back, standing as frozen as the living icicle in front of her, "I'll get her blood splashed on me!"  
"You've got to do something!" Pikablu yelled, "Just leaving it frozen isn't gonna cut it!"  
"… I'll punch it!" Zerobi responded, clenching her hands into fists.  
"No!" Pikablu shouted, "Look at Lucario and Galls! She's got some kind of shock resistance, they couldn't even hurt it with blows!"  
"Damn it!" Zerobi screamed angrily, "It wasn't supposed to come to this!"  
"Stop freaking out, for crying out loud!" Pikablu bellowed with unparalleled rage, "You're the only one left! Do it or we're all done for, and I SWEAR I'll kill you myself!"  
  
Zerobi clenched her fists harder in despair before suddenly feeling something hit her shoulder. Looking behind her, she noticed that Lucario was standing to her side, and as a reflex scanned his arm to make sure that there was not a single drop of blood on it.  
  
"… Ugh…" Lucario groaned, struggling to keep to his feet, "Just do it, already…"  
"It's… It's not just that I'm scared!" Zerobi replied, "If I get blood on me…"  
"You won't have to!" Lucario kept going, sounding a bit stronger than at first, "Cut it fast enough and you won't get any on you!"  
"… Fast enough…?" Zerobi repeated, feeling slightly more confident at the thought.  
"Cut 'n run!" Lucario said, "Do it fast enough and you'll be fine!"  
"I'll…" Zerobi whispered to herself, seeing how the Garchomp was starting to thaw out.  
"Or, you know, don't do it and get publicly executed instead…" Lucario reminded her, smiling a bit before resuming his confident demeanor, "… Only you can beat that thing. If that's not reason enough for you to d-"  
  
A slight noise suddenly came from the Garchomp, making Zerobi's determination return and her desperation soar. Instantly she leaped towards the Garchomp, creating a single powerful slash across its abdomen while still running past it.  
  
Stopping herself a few feet away from the Garchomp, she kneeled down without even looking back. Suddenly, the Garchomp gave off a gurgling sound, lowering her head and seeing a red gash of blood over her chest. For half an instant her panicked mind felt dirty and tried to wipe it off herself, before the pain hit in and she slowly became unconscious. The body of the Garchomp landed in a patch of grass that was soaked with her own blood, much like the Weavile that had defeated her.  
  
Lucas gasped. Seeing his trusted friends go down one after one felt like a noose tightening around his neck. His breathing started coming harder as he hyperventilated, fear clouding up his mind while staring at the monstrous Weavile before him. The blood flowing out of Grace made him sick to his stomach, making him recall the earlier dismembering of the Kabutops… Its shrill screams, begging for mercy as he tried to tell her to stop…  
  
What struck him even harder was the knowledge that it was his failure as a trainer that caused this. He had let his Pokemon run wild and maim a wild Pokemon, he had been negligent of the Pikachu's capabilities for too long, and he had sent his very best friend against a type that she was extremely weak against.  
  
Celebi and the Kabutops had been right. He was no trainer. Attempting to stand up to run away one last time, exhaustion finally overtook his body as he blacked out.  
  
"He's…" the Gallade said while trying to stand up, "… He's down!"  
"YES! HAHAHA!" Pikablu gave off a prideful and loud laughter, "We did it! We won! Victory is ours!"  
"Way to go, Zerobi!" Lucario yelled, the happy feelings of having won turning his joy into actually feelings of being a professional coach. He ignored his pain and smiled brightly at his partner, who still had her back turned to him. Her black and unusually red back…  
  
"… Blood…!?" Lucario exclaimed, angry at himself for not having noticed it sooner. Zerobi stood where she landed after the final attack, her body covered with tiny speckles of blood from the Garchomp. She wasn't saying a word, but was instead shaking profusely.  
  
Lucario got worried and tried to run to her, noticing just how badly damaged his right leg had become from fighting the Garchomp. Whether it had been the constant fiery attacks or the fact that his roundhouse kicks might as well have been directed at a brick wall he did not know. All he knew was that if someone was to happen to Zerobi now, he would…  
  
"… Zerobi…?" Lucario slowly asked, patting the shoulder of his partner.  
  
In an instant she spun around with a claw outstretched, cutting through his throat with a quick slash. Blood splayed across the field as time seemed to stop all around them. Pain filled Lucario's head while a gargling sound escaped his throat as he tried to draw breath, but the passageway to his lungs had been completely severed and he began choking instead. He felt his warm blood running the fur on his neck, holding up a hand in a futile attempt of stopping the flow. Falling to his knees from the lack of air, all he could do was stare deeply into the eyes of the smiling Weavile in front of him.  
  
Inside of them, he noticed that there was something unusual.  
  
Nothing. 


	16. Remorseless Wraith Zerobi

They were all staring at her. Some with fear, others with confusion. Lucario seemed to be one of the latter.  
  
Nothing out of the ordinary. She had seen this look before. At long last she was showing her true colors, and this is all she gets? A dumb stare? What would his expression be like if she had cut the tendrils in his legs and left him out in the snow, where he would catch cold and die? How would he react if she slipped and gave him a push at the top of a cliff, sending his body to be smashed and broken against the unforgiving ground? She wanted to know, and for barely an instant wished she had not struck a killing blow so quickly.  
  
Looking behind her, she noticed that nothing was the same anymore. Surely these meaningless bundles of life were not something she once considered to be friends! She had been betrayed before, she would be betrayed again. Seeing the faces they were all giving her, she knew this to be nothing less than a fact.  
  
Which one would bring the most blood? Which one would bring the best? In her mind, she saw herself peeling the shell off the Kabutops to feast upon her insides, decapitating the Gallade just like the one from so many years ago and evolving the Pikachu with the Thunderstone before cutting his tail off. Lucario, Celebi… None of it mattered anymore.  
  
In this haze of blood and pleasure, it seems that the only thing that remained the same was her. Her claws had the same form as they had always had, with the minor difference of being drenched in blood.  
  
This sight, unlike any other brought back memories of her days in the Cerulean Cave, living every day to the fullest. To think that ever since so long ago, her claws had been clean! So much time had been wasted in the cavern north of Snowpoint City, sitting there all alone for years upon years, reading silly magazines when she could have easily been engulfing herself in the sweet nectar of life.  
  
But somehow… Looking at her claws, positively drenched in what she craves and desires… Fills her with nothing but emptiness. The more she took them into herself, the less joyful she became. The claws that she had kept unsullied for so long had become corrupted once more, even after she had promised herself so many times that it would never happen.  
  
Eyes fastened upon the blood feeding her, she began to walk. Walking away from the catastrophe she had caused. Walking towards salvation from this self-inflicted nightmare.  
  
"Oi! Lucario!" the Gallade screamed while trying to stop Lucario from convulsing, "Shit! He's a goner!"  
"ZEROBI!" Kabuta howled in rage, stumbling to her feet with only one arm and running after the being drenched in blood.  
"Let her go!" Pikablu shouted, "We need to free Celebi! She can help him!"  
  
  
  
I can hear them chanting my name. All of them.  
  
 **"Zerobi…!"**  
  
Screaming out for my attention… What they wish, they shall receive. Can that truly be a horrible intention?  
  
 **"Damn… I'm sorry I got you into this."**  
  
…!  
  
  
  
"Open up, damn you!" Pikablu yelled, pressing the large button on the black Pokeball as hard as he could, "It's just one damn button! How could this not be working!?"  
"We don't have time for this!" Kabuta shouted with her left scythe brandished, "Move! I'll cut it open!"  
"NO! You idiot!" Pikablu bellowed while violently shoving her away, "Be careful, you might kill her if you do!"  
  
  
  
 **"Must be hard keeping the place clean with the constant stream of visitors you're getting."**  
  
… You're here, too?  
  
 **"… Yeah. I've got your back. You've got my back, back?"**  
  
No… No! But that means… You're…  
  
 **"BITCH, I'M YOUR ACCOMPLICE!"**  
  
… And I…  
  
  
  
"P-Pikablu…?" Celebi asked with a confused stammer, "You-"  
"Hurrah and huzzah, but we need some help over here!" the Gallade shouted, interrupting her as Lucario was starting to become too exhausted and stopped moving. His gaze became transfixed at Zerobi, somewhere by the edge of the horizon. He tried to inhale one last time, his eyes closing as he finally fainted from the lack of air, the vision of the dark figure imprinted in the back of his skull.  
  
  
  
 **"I was just hoping that you'd be a bit more… Human."**  
  
It was supposed to be different! You were supposed to change me!  
  
 **"What do you expect me to be able to do, anyway?"**  
  
All for blood… I didn't even want it! Damn it! DAMN IT! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!?  
  
 **"This isn't a pleasure cruise, everyone I meet is going to want me dead..."**  
  
Oh, Lucario, I… It wasn't like that… I… I… Can you ever forgive me…!?  
  
 **"… Just… Let me sleep on it…"**  
  
  
  
The skin around Lucario's wound was thinning out as Celebi rearranged the tissue to cover up his throat. The blood had mostly soaked into his chest hair, giving it a red hue with tiny droplets on top.  
  
"… Can you save him?" Kabuta asked slowly, surprised at how hard it was to tell if Lucario was dead or just sleeping. A short memory flash of the time she tried to sneak over to his sleeping area one night hit her, making her choke up a bit.  
"Yes, as luck would have it I happen to be…" Celebi started before looking at her and seeing that something was out of the place, "… Kabuta! Y-Your arm!"  
"Oh… Yeah" Kabuta said while waving her intact scythe where her other one used to be, "Damn, that hurt like hell."  
"Your dad's gonna be pissed…" the Gallade mumbled with a more depressing tone than usual, "… At me, most likely."  
"… I'm sorry…" Celebi whispered with sadly, looking down at Lucario's bloody front and hairless patches of damaged skin, "You went through all of this for me…"  
"Just try to save him" Pikablu said, saddened by the fact that their victory was more bittersweet than he had ever expected, "It'd be a real shame if he died, he didn't even have a reason to be here in the first place."  
  
A few minutes passed without anyone saying anything, Celebi finishing up her reconstruction of Lucario. Even so, hardly a moment after the air from his lungs reached his brain, his eyes shot open as he instantly leaped to his feet, startling her quite a bit.  
  
"Cchhzz!" Lucario wheezed and surprised everyone, including himself as he clutched his throat.  
"Don't talk!" Celebi said quickly, "Your throat is still recuperating!" He looked at her with an annoyed glance. His expression became more thankful as he began realizing that he had just been saved, but once again furrowed when more of the situation became clearer.  
  
Rage inched through his being, steadily gaining strength like fiery fire. He turned around and looked in the direction that Zerobi had taken, seeing a mirage of her corrupted form leaving him to his fate. Never having been able to sense her aura, he knew that she would get away if she moved too far, and started running after a faint reddened path formed among the grassy plains.  
  
"Wait, where are you…" Celebi asked with a confused voice before being stopped by Pikablu, who raised his hand in a silencing motion.  
"Let him go" he said with a dark tone as he watched Lucario follow the trail of blood, "We have a lot to talk about."  
  
  
  
Sitting on a large rock by the edge of a cliff, Zerobi gazed over the horizon. The sun was setting in the distance, casting the world into an orange hue of unnatural beauty. However, she was not able to appreciate it, as her world had long since turned into a never ending mist of red.  
  
Her eyes began scrolling down slowly. It was a very tall cliff, and the rocky ground beneath seemed like it was miles away, like another horizon stretching down the vertical. One fourth of the distance of this fall would be enough to kill anyone. Remembering her past she knew that she had died before, but had afterwards been resurrected at the expense of the lives of many others.  
  
She knew that would not be as unlucky this time.  
  
More than anything, she wanted to cry. She wanted to cry over what she had done, she wanted to cry over who she was, and she wanted to cry over how in a short while she was not going to be.  
  
But she could not. The blood was affecting her in a way where she could not revoke the pleasure, even though her very self was being crushed by self-loathing and guilt. Her sorrow overflowed as a single teardrop escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. It was like a drop in the ocean towards clearing up her anguish, but this final show of emotion relieved her of grief as she realized what must be done. Leaning over the chasm, she knew that the only dead end was the one located behind her…  
  
  
  
Lucario's throat's grouchy aching made him worry about the wound opening up, but felt that he would regret it even more if he did not hurry up and track down the creature responsible for it. His partner in crime, on the run from the long arms of the law… His mentor when it came to matters he did not understand… The only Pokémon he had come to trust since turning into a Pokémon had just cut his throat, without any doubt in an attempt to kill him.  
  
The voices of the brown cat and smug snake echoed through his head. Finally, he was able to understand why they had been sounding so terrified.  
  
The fight against the Garchomp had taken everything out of him. His legs were giving up, every strand of grass hitting them like beams of concrete. But even so, he forced himself to keep moving. He felt more like a fool than ever, and so he kept moving in the possible hopes of doing something right for once. The sensation of the blooded monster slashing through his throat grew hazy while his determination to track her down and finish things became clearer.  
  
  
  
It was not long before they were reunited again. Zerobi heard someone approaching her from behind, not turning around completely but instead keeping her head stationary and letting the creature appear in the corner of her eye. She became shocked when she realized who it was and tried to look directly at him, but the guilt and despair intensified as her vision fastened the blood on his chest and forced her to look down instead.  
  
"… You survived" Zerobi whispered slowly. Her heart lifted a little, but sunk once more as her gaze moved towards the chasm. She wondered just how horrifying this view would seem to her during the plunge.  
  
"I didn't mean to do it, but…" Zerobi said quietly with a subtle shake of her head, "… It's pointless. I did it, I've done it before and I will do it again."  
Zerobi's response was complete silence, yet she still looked away, feeling like her heart would be torn in two if their eyes were to meet.  
  
"… Fear not. I will die now" she said with a pained expression, "You should forget about me and look away. It… Won't be pretty."  
Behind her there was nothing but silence once again, sealing a wave of sorrow within her. Even if only once, she wanted to hear his voice before it all ended… But realized that she was in no position to ask for a favor. She knew she did not deserve it.  
  
"… I never told you why I saved you that day, from Suicune…" Zerobi whispered sadly, wanting to give at least one piece of closure to her life before making the leap. She hesitated for a moment, but realized that if she was unable to do even this, suicide would be out of the question. Somehow, this manner of thinking brought her enough determination to finally say what had been pressing on her heart for such a long time.  
  
"I have been alone so long… Even before all this, I never had anyone…" she said, a few more tears creeping down her face, "I… I thought you were… Pretty."  
  
As the words escaped her, she knew there was no turning back. Never had she expected that this is how she would be giving her confession.  
"Nothing else… Never… B-But… As time went on, I… I truly…" she continued, before abruptly stopping her monologue.  
"… No…" she whispered sadly while biting her lip, "In the end, y-you were just another prey… Which is why I m-must…"  
  
Fear and hesitation began filling her when she realized that the time had come. She had to do it now, before she could change her mind. But after taking her final step towards the edge, a moment of reprise struck her as she saw a vision of herself flying through the air, helplessly trying to stop herself to breaking against the very rocks she was now staring at. She hesitated, and simply stood frozen by the edge of the cliff.  
  
Her worries were calmed when she heard Lucario walking towards her. With his help, she knew that the end of her life could not have been more justifiable. She wanted to say something, but felt that it would be better like this.  
Just one little push… And this nightmare would finally be over.  
  
She braced herself as a set of arms wrapped around her. Lucario stood speechless, his throat too damaged to speak. He did the only thing he could to comfort his partner, and hugged her close to his chest.  
  
Zerobi gasped as she ended up going in the wrong direction, being pulled back instead of pushed forward. Not knowing what to do, she looked up at Lucario as if to scold him for stopping her. He had a stern look on his face, but could not help but smile as relief washed over him.  
  
It was then that the sorrow, anger and despair all overtook her mind at the same time, and finally made her start crying for real.  
She wailed as the two of them embraced with the sun setting in the background, leaving this long and trying day in its wake.  
  
\- - - - - - - - - - -  
  
"... You again."  
  
 _"Mewtwo..."_  
  
"Have you returned for yet another futile attempt at disabling my solitude?"  
  
 _"I-I just came to warn you! You must not be aware of-"_  
  
"Silence. I am aware of everything."  
  
 _"... You... You are?"_  
  
"Your worries are unwarranted and condescending. Begone."  
  
 _"But... You never leave this cave, how can you know anything about what is happening on the outside?"_  
  
"... Pitiful original. Years have passed since I surpassed the feeble limitations you supplied me with."  
  
 _"..."_  
  
"Begone."  
  
 _"... Wait... If you 'know everything'... Does that mean you also saw..."_  
  
"..."  
  
 _"... Deoxys...?"_  
  
"Indeed."  
  
 _"...!"_  
  
"... I believed that my abilities were failing me at that point, however."  
  
 _"Same here, and I saw it with my own eyes..."_  
  
"Quite the unexpected turnout."  
  
 _"... So you knew about it, yet still you sat here and did nothing!? It would have razed the world without intervention!"_  
  
"You misunderstand."  
  
 _"How!?"_  
  
"I did nothing... Because there was nothing I could do."  
  
 _"You mean..."_  
  
"Deoxys was assigned the destruction of the world... And would have succeeded."  
  
 _"... Tell me! Tell me everything you know!"_  
  
"I have."  
  
 _"Will there be more in the future!?"_  
  
"From my current position, that is impossible to tell."  
  
 _"... Is that so...?"_  
  
"Why not utilize your silly flailing above and find out yourself?"  
  
 _"Come with me, then!"_  
  
"Never."  
  
 _"You're so infuriating! Why must you keep yourself sealed in here like some angst filled teenager!?"_  
  
"... Last warning. Begone."  
  
 _"Fine... Have it your way. I hope the rumbling from the world shattering does not disturb your meditation!"_  
  
"..."  
  
 _"..."_  
  
"... If the need arises... I will come."  
  
 _"... Mewtwo...!"_  
  
"But only if all other options have been exhausted."  
  
 _"Of course!"_  
  
"Not to save you, only to preserve the world for my continued sustenance."  
  
 _"Certainly!"_  
  
"... And should you call me 'gloomy' at any time or point, you WILL regret it."  
  
 _"My lips are sealed!"_  
  
"Hmpf."  
  
 _"... What?"_  
  
"You are beginning to act more like yourself."  
  
 _"..."_  
  
"Continue with that."  
  
 _"... By the way... There's a gathering of the legendaries in-"_  
  
"Pass."  
  
 _"... There will be berries of every kind, and-"_  
  
"PASS!"    



	17. Forgiveness (Epilogue of Episode III)

"Lucario… Don't…" Zerobi moaned weakly before suddenly raising her voice and pushing him away, "… D-Don't stop me! I have to die!"  
"… You saved me once…" Lucario said quietly, the damage in his throat creating a disgusting sound behind every word, "… This makes us even…"  
"Oh, for crying out…" Zerobi groaned at the cliché, "I tried to kill you. Don't you despise me?"  
"… I'm the one who…" Lucario wheezed before interrupting himself with a cough, "… I'm the one who egged you on… Even after you told me about the blood thing… If I hadn't been so weak, you wouldn't even have had to…"  
"You have a funny way of seeing things… " Zerobi sighed while purposely pushing away any feelings of joy creeping up on her, "So… That's it? Lucario, I'm a monster!"  
"… Monsters don't cry…" Lucario said confidently, "… You shouldn't kill yourself… That'd be bad…"  
  
The two of them looked at each other for a while, not sure of what to say. Lucario noticed that while Zerobi remained mostly the same, there were a few subtle differences to her appearance. The collection of pink feather-like hair on her head seemed more vibrant than earlier. Her skin was also in a different hue, but whether it had turned darker or more red he could not tell. Not only that, but the most important detail was nowhere to be found.  
  
"… Blood's gone…" Lucario said after a while before looking down at the slightly shorter Pokémon.  
"… Yeah, it's been absorbed into my skin…" Zerobi replied, wishing she could look away but somehow being trapped within his eyes, "To be honest, I'm still a bit loopy from it…"  
"… You OK…?" Lucario asked slowly and wondering if he should still be worried about her attacking him again. He was able to forgive her once, but he knew that if she tried it again that would be the end of it.  
"Better than you, I'm sure" Zerobi replied, feeling like snickering but not being able to even smile.  
Again they stood in silence, simply looking at one another. Zerobi saw that Lucario was missing a lot of fur on his body from the barrage of fire-based attacks he had taken from the Garchomp, making his scars more visible than before. The new scar gracing his throat did not escape her, the damaged tissue's brownish color making it seem a lot worse than the others.  
  
"… Can we really do this?" Zerobi asked with a discouraged tone in her voice while staring at his wound, "No… No, it's too late. Even if you're fine with it, everyone else…"  
"… I'll think of something…" Lucario said while scratching the new uncomfortable skin around his throat, "… Although, an apology would be nice…"  
"Uh…" Zerobi mumbled slowly, not knowing what to do, "… I'm sorry for cutting your throat?" She blinked once in surprise as Lucario simply smiled in response.  
  
"Um… About that thing I said…" she suddenly said, finally being able to look down as she tried to hide a blush appearing on her face, "A-About saving you…"  
"… Don't worry about it…" Lucario replied confidently with a wave of his hand, "… You saved me. Why…? Doesn't matter."  
"W-Well…" Zerobi stammered, feeling somewhat relived but still not getting the answer she was looking for, "It kind of does…"  
"… Nah, doesn't bother me at all…" Lucario replied, completely oblivious to what she was hinting at.  
"No, what I mean is…" Zerobi said with a slow tempo before borrowing some of her earlier determination to say what was on her mind, "… I-If you'd allow it, could… Could we be together?"  
"… Actually… I think we need some time apart…" Lucario responded bluntly, "… At least until my throat heals… Battling wits like this… Is unfair…"  
"… Heh" Zerobi finally gave off a short snicker while exhaling a sigh of disappointment, "Well, I don't think I can beat that one."  
"… Let's go…" Lucario said while putting his right arm around her back, "… I think your sister's waiting…"  
  
The two of them left the scene and began walking back to where the major conflict had taken place. Zerobi moved reluctantly at first, but felt reassured with Lucario next to her. Being able to sense the joyful aura of Celebi not far away in front of them, it truly felt like they were leaving despair behind them and moving on to better times.  
  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
 _"Sir! Sir! We are finished, sir!"_  
  
"Ahh... I wish you'd stop calling me that. Actually, could you stop starting your updates with 'we are finished'? It sets a bad mood."  
  
 _"M-My apologies, sir! But see, we have fina-"_  
  
"No. This stops here. Believe it or not, calling me 'sir' puts me in an undesirable position. Show me respect by specifically NOT calling me 'sir'."  
  
 _"As you wish, s..."_  
  
"..."  
  
 _"... Suddenly, our report is composed and complete!"_  
  
"Nice recovery."  
  
 _"T-Thank you, sir!"_  
  
"I'm being sarcastic... Ugh, never mind, just tell me what you've found."  
  
 _"Yes, sir! Latest developments show us that neither Raikou nor Suicune are willing to join our cause!"_  
  
"... Damn. Truly the lapdogs of mankind. Not completely unexpected, of course..."  
  
 _"No signs of improvement from Entei, either!"_  
  
"That one was completely expected. Move on."  
  
 _"Uh, yes! A Lucario posing as the Lonesome Wanderer Lucario managed to avoid captivity in Snowpoint and rout-"_  
  
"Wait wait wait... Posing as?"  
  
 _"Yes! In co ordinance to the Lonesome Wanderer Lucario, he has no spikes on neither hands nor chest!"_  
  
"... That's not exactly 'posing', is it? Might just as well be a coincidence."  
  
 _"The media seems to think otherwise, sir!"_  
  
"The media is nothing but garbage when it comes to Pokemon! You should know this! Why do you not know this!? Argh, why did **I** even recruit you in the first place...!?"  
  
 _"I... I don't know what to say, s-"_  
  
"Just... Just tell me what he did, already."  
  
 _"... Ah, yes! He routed the entire police force of Snowpoint singlehandedly, even with a wounded shoulder!"_  
  
"Snowpoint? Never heard of anyone strong stationed over there. Who did he beat?"  
  
 _"Our research shows that they each had a high mid-ranking power level!"_  
  
"... They?"  
  
 _"Yes, sir! The Fearsome Four Kojofu, local heroes and proud fighters of crime and injust-"_  
  
"Wait... Let me get this straight... Against a type disadvantage, he defeated four police officers at once?"  
  
 _"Decimated them! All while mocking them and looking dashing!"_  
  
"Heh... Sounds like a good addition. Currently...?"  
  
 _"He fled from Snowpoint, and he has yet to appear once more. The police is heavy on his trail."_  
  
"Perfect. Put him up on the... Wait, why was he being chased by the police in the first place?"  
  
 _"We have no idea, sir. Must be something extremely minor, the eyewitnesses we've interviewed tell us nothing but how incredibly cool he looked."_  
  
"... At any rate, add him to the list of 'possible candidates', and reach out a hand when you find him."  
  
 _"Yes, s... S-Sir!"_  
  
"... Next."  
  
 _"The fearsome Zerobi has reemerged, actually in cohorts with the previously mentioned Lucario!"_  
  
"You should've told me that first. Who's this Zerobi?"  
  
 _"Seven years ago, she murdered 47 Pokemon and fought the police in Cerulean City!"_  
  
"... Yikes! Sounds like a complete psychopath!"  
  
 _"She was believed to have perished at the scene, but has proven herself to be a truly capable fi-"_  
  
"I don't care. I'm not running a mental hospital or slaughterhouse here. List as 'potentially dangerous' and try to pry her away from the Lucario if you can."  
  
 _"Yes, s..."_  
  
"..."  
  
 _"..."_  
  
"... Hah! That's the spirit!"  
  
 _"Thank you, s... S... Señor!"_  
  
"Not acceptable, I'm afraid. Move on."  
  
 _"Yes! Um... Potential candidate 'Grow'... 'Growgalore'..."_  
  
"... Grougaloragran?"  
  
 _"Yes! The scouts claim that she has not fought in years, and has completely lost her flare!"_  
  
"Huh. Can it be reignited?"  
  
 _"... Her reckless past indicates a slight possibility!"_  
  
"Just say 'yes' or 'no'... Eh, never mind, book me in a meeting with her, and find out which form she is the most comfortable talking with."  
  
 _"Y... Yes, sir! From the top of my head, I can recommend against using that of a Pikachu!"_  
  
"Pikachu, eh? Finally, we get to that. Go on, tell me what I want to hear."  
  
 _"... Um... Not 'sir'?"_  
  
"No, you dumb... I'm talking about the Legendary Trio, of course!"  
  
 _"I apologize! We have been unable to locate their current whereabouts!"_  
  
"Did you try 'at home'?"  
  
 _"Kabutops' wife Astrid told us that they were out on a mission, and then banned us from entering their premises! Permanently!"_  
  
"... I don't even want to know... Focus your efforts on finding them, I'd really hate for the humans to get them first."  
  
 _"I shall, my liege!"_  
  
"Grah! FINE! Stick with 'sir' until you can make rid of it completely! If anyone asks, I'll tell them you've got tourette's syndrome or something!"  
  
 _"I-I will, s... Sir... It's... It's just that I respect you far too much to call you anything else!"_  
  
"You've got to stop it! The road to power is a slippery slope... An upwards slope. No wait, that doesn't make any sense..."  
  
 _"Sir?"_  
  
"... The point is, I can't let it get to me. Gotta stay cool. Accessible. A true equal to the Pokémon surrounding me."  
  
 _"Speaking of which... Your wives were right outside when I arrived. Apparently, they have been requesting your presence for quite some time now."_  
  
"... Ah, superb! Well then, let's continue this report at a later time!"  
  
 _"Sir!"_


End file.
